


Why Are You So Annoying?

by ubeyema



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-10-27 06:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 45,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20755547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ubeyema/pseuds/ubeyema
Summary: Go StrongIndependentWoman Hayi is what she likes to call herself. From thesis to commission works, she's got it under control. But, there's one thing she can't control-Song Yuvin. How can someone so annoying exist in this world?





	1. Prologue

**☾⛧A day in the life of Go Hayi ⛧☽**

3:45 PM. She reads on her wrist watch. Doing her thesis in the library during this particular time of the day has been her routine for… she probably doesn’t even remember how long it has been.

She closes her books and fixes her things. Next on her to-do list: work at the convenience store. It’s just a short walk from the university so around 10 minutes should be enough. She returns the books, goes out of the library, and walks down the same route she’s been taking for around a hundred times already. However, for some reason, today suddenly feels different… The realization that this is her last term in college suddenly hit her. Just 3 more months and she’ll be entering the real world. She feels both excitement and fear. 

There have been so many moments during college where she wished for the time to go faster. However, now that she’s near the finish line, she wishes for the time to go slower… most especially because she still have LOTS to do for her thesis. 

Despite that, she is excited for the day when she’ll be able to put all of her paintings in an exhibit attended by hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people! She longs for the moment when the museum guide introduces her name—

  
_ “Go~ Hayi! Go go Hayi!” _3:55 pm. She arrives at the convenience store just in time to hear that overly familiar annoying voice. Yes, her name is Go Hayi, and she’ll be spending the next four hours with her annoying co-worker, Song Yuvin.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	2. Character Introduction

☆°˖✧ Go Hayi ✧˖°☆

Majoring in fine arts has always been her dream, and she's determined to be one of the best painters in the world. She likes peace and order which is why her chaotic co-worker Yuvin gets on her nerves.

☆°˖✧ Song Yuvin ✧˖°☆

A happy-go-lucky theater arts major who's passionate about what he likes. He loves quoting lines from movies & theater plays. Nothing can faze him except for one thing, and that's for you to find out.

☾⛧Yuvin's friends aka The X-Men⛧☽

☾⛧The Co-workers⛧☽

☆°˖✧ Eunsang ✧˖°☆

A senior high school student from Brand New High School. Every day after school, he stays at the convenience store that the workers, especially Hayi, has become familiar and fond of him. He always buys 2 Banana Milks for himself.

☾⛧The Woolim Trio⛧☽

Senior high school students from Woollim Arts High School. The trio often buys and eats snacks at the convenience store before going home from school.


	3. ☾⛧ INT. CONVENIENCE STORE. DAY. ⛧☽

Go StrongIndependentWoman Hayi is what she likes to call herself. From thesis to commission works, she's got it under control. But, there's one thing she can't control—Song Yuvin. _"How can someone so annoying exist in this world?" _She thinks to herself.

_"Go~ Hayi! Go go Hayi!" _This is how Yuvin greets her whenever he sees her at the store. Hayi simply glares at the loud co-worker as a reply before going to the staff room to change into her uniform. Yuvin doesn't mind it. He just smiles as wide as he can before going back to arranging the shelves while reciting some lines from a movie.

After changing, Hayi fixes her name tag as she walks to the counter. When she looks up, the brightest smile she has ever seen is right in front of her, giving her two banana milk for purchase. _"You're seriously never late, huh?" _Hayi asks the red-haired high school boy. _"Nope! Never!" _he replies. Hayi couldn't help but smile. _"Enjoy your drinks, Eunsang-ah." _And _"Yes~" _he replies.

As if on schedule, Eunsang is always at the convenience store everyday after school. He buys 2 banana milk and stays seated on one of the tables for at least an hour. Hayi found it a bit weird at first, but she's gotten used to it. _"Everyone has their own habits, right?"_ She thought to herself.

_"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name!"_ Kookheon recites as he enters the store confidently with a line of men behind him. If there is one habit that Hayi finds really annoying, it's this. Yuvin emerges from the shelves, putting his actor face on. _"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak of this?" _Kookheon hears Yuvin and lays his eyes on him. Yuvin does the same to Kookheon. _"So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd. Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title." _Kookheon recites as he and Yuvin walk towards each other. _"Romeo, doff thy name. And for thy name, which is no part of thee. Take all myself."_ Yuvin takes Kookheon's hands and clasps it together with his. He continues, _"I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."_

Seungwoo, Seungyoun, Jinhyuk, and Byungchan, who were getting food, all gag at the sight. _"Let's just eat already." _Seungyoun says as he lightly hits Yuvin's and Kookheon's heads with his drumsticks. Kookheon proceeds to getting food.

Hayi just shakes her head. _"Why are you all here?" _She asks the noisy group of boys. _"To eat?!" _Seungyoun answers like it was wrong of Hayi to ask while placing a cup ramyun and cider on the counter. Next to Yuvin, Seungyoun is probably the next most annoying person she knows but she doesn't mind him that much since she doesn't see him almost everyday anyways. _"No. I mean, you're complete?"_ She clarifies. _"Yeah, what's up?" _Yuvin, who is back to arranging the shelves, agrees. _"Oh... somehow, all our professors are absent today!" _Jinhyuk laughingly announces. There was a time when Hayi though Jinhyuk was too nice to be a part of this group, but in the end, they're all the same silly boys. _"Wow... I'm jealous." _Yuvin breathlessly says. _"Why though? You're earning money right now." _The optimistic Byungchan says as he places his snacks for purchase. _"Yeah, but I just like it when I go to class and find out the prof is absent." _Yuvin says. _"Are you kidding me?!" _Kookheon aggressively reacts. _"It's such a hassle! They should tell us if they're gonna be absent so we can stay asleep for the whole day." _Hayi felt his annoyance as he places a grilled pork belly dosirak and jelly drink packet on the counter.

_"Shhh! Guys!" _Seungyoun hushes everyone._ "The teacher's aide can hear you!" _He exclaims pertaining to Seungwoo, and the older simply laughs. Hayi thought it's nice of Seungwoo to still hang out with his college friends even after graduating.

The noisy group of men, or X-Men as what they like to call themselves, settle down on the table beside Eunsang's, but since there are only four seats per table, Seungwoo goes to sit beside Eunsang.

While waiting for his ramyun to be cooked, Seungyoun uses the table as his drums while producing loud drum-like sounds through his mouth. "Cho Seungyoun!" Hayi calls and Seungyoun immediately understands it as a warning to be quiet. _"Yes, ma'am!" _He salutes to Hayi before checking on his ramyun.

Yuvin finishes arranging the shelves and goes back to the counter. He is actually one year younger than Hayi but he doesn't call her "noona". Hayi pointed it out to him several times, but he gets real grumpy every time she does so she stopped trying. It's no use anyways too because he simply calls her by several variations of puns of her name. _"Hi! Hi! Hayi!" _Yuvin chants repeatedly. Hayi, who just took out her notes to read, turns to Yuvin to give him her usual glare. _"How was today?" _He asks with a playful smile on his face. _"Usual." _Hayi lifelessly replies before returning her gaze onto her notes.

She can still remember the day she first met Yuvin. It was 6 months ago when he applied at the store. He was wearing a yellow-orange cropped sweater over a white shirt and looked pretty decent. Hayi might've even had a tiny crush on him back then. However, all her good impressions on Yuvin were gone in just 30 minutes after their first shift started when he finally adjusted to her and unleashed his true annoying self.

_"Idealism." _Yuvin peaks into Hayi's notes and reads it out loud. _"A stylistic departure from the realistic appearance of things in order to portray more accurately the ideal essence of things." _He continues. _"Idealists ignore the flaws and portrays somebody or someone or something without flaw." _Yuvin nods in understanding. _"So, is it idealism or realism if someone tries to paint me?" _Yuvin chuckles to himself, and Hayi can only close her eyes and take a long sigh.

Meanwhile on the tables, _"I'm really curious. Eunsang, right?" _Seungwoo initiates the conversation with the younger boy. _"Yes." _Eunsang replies and Seungwoo asks, _"Why do you always buy 2 banana milk?"_

Before Eunsang can answer, the convenience store door chimes rings and 3 more high school boys wearing the Woollim Arts high school uniform enter. Eunsang takes a good look at them before returning his gaze to Seungwoo and answering _"Because I love it."_ with a bright smile. _"Well, at least banana milk is healthy."_ Seungwoo smiles at the cute boy.

Although Eunsang does like banana milk, he really isn't that much of a fan to actually buy 2 and drink them all by himself everyday after school.

_"What?! There's no pizza bread?!"_ Hyeop exclaims. _"Ya, aren't you sick of it?"_ Junho asks him. _"And what about you? Aren't you sick of burgers?!"_ Hyeop throws back the question to Junho, but Junho simply shakes his head before saying _"Why would I be?" _while walking to the counter to pay for his burger.

_"What about ordering pizza? We'll hang out at my place anyway." _Yunseong suggests to Hyeop. _"Will you pay for it?" _Hyeop asks. _"It's your pizza?! Why would I pay?!" _Yunseong exclaims in the tiniest voice possible while paying for his mint choco drink._ "Okay, you can't ask for a slice then!" _Hyeop rolls his eyes to Yunseong before walking out of the store. _"Hey, wait up!" _Both Junho and Yunseong laughingly calls Hyeop before running up to catch him.

Hayi is familiar with those three boys as well since they frequent the store and buy the same snacks, like Eunsang. Speaking of Eunsang, Hayi catches his expression when the Woollim boys exited the store. Eunsang is the brightest boy she has ever known, but he looked really sad just now.

Before Hayi could call Eunsang's attention, Yuvin calls her in a serious tone. _"Hayi." _She turns around only for Yuvin to poke her cheeks. Hayi swats his hand and Yuvin laughs in victory for he has annoyed Hayi once again. Meanwhile, Eunsang loosens his grip off the unopened banana milk.

✧ The layout of the convenience store (★ is where Eunsang usually sits, facing the door)✧

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	4. ☾⛧The way through a girl's heart is through her stomach... or not ⛧☽

"_Part-time job check. Thesis paperwork about 30% accomplished. Finish at least four more pages tonight._" Hayi mentally checks her to-do list as she fixes her bag. She just finished her shift in the convenience store. Today has been extremely chaotic, and it's a miracle she's still alive. All she wants right now is to go back to her dorm room and eat a cup of ramen and-

Before she can finish her sentence, two people walk into the store. Wooseok and Hangyul smile at her as they make their way to the counter. _"Why are you both late?" _Hayi asks with her eyes piercing to them, but more towards Hangyul. _"I'm just fashionably late," _Wooseok responded and broke Hayi's gaze.

Sometimes, it still surprises her that this specific co-worker can be so sassy. Before she can even retort, he's already casually entering the storage room with a cheeky smile on his face. _"He doesn't usually come late so don't scold him. I think it's his first time this month." _Hangyul tries to cooly add while slowly making his way to follow his partner.

However, Hayi snapped her head back to him with eyes burning with fire. She exclaimed,_ "Well you, Lee Hangyul, have been late for the hundredth time... and today is the hundred first!" _Hayi takes one step at a time towards Hangyul, and the boy is now shaking like a leaf.

You see, Hayi is an independent woman and she can do anything she sets her mind on. Well, she isn't just an independent woman but a strong one too. That's why no one should anger her for the dragon will be unleashed.

_"Don't murder him!"_ Yuvin shouted dramatically, running as if someone is going to die. He dragged Hayi out of the store, but before he completely exits the store, he shoots an _"I've got this"_ look to Hangyul while Hangyul sends back a grateful look and mouths _"Thank you!"_

All of them have been working together for the last couple of months. The boys have especially formed a special bond with each other, while Hayi... well, she is just her usual self.

Hayi pushed Yuvin away and glared at him. _"Why did you do that?!" _She argued. He just shrugs with a silly smile on his face and said, _"You should take it easy on Hangyul. You know he's been practicing his routine for the competition." _In fact, that is correct. Hangyul is indeed practicing very hard lately which may or may not be the reason why he's yet again late today.

_"I'm just trying to discipline him! He should learn how to balance his time well. Work is work." _she replied. It was silent for a second there. Hayi looks at Yuvin and sees him breaking into a smile. _"He is not like you, Ms. Go StrongIndependentWoman Hayi."_ He annoyingly said.

This is what Hayi hates the most. She cannot tame Yuvin no matter what she does. Today is another proof of that so she just rolled her eyes and said: _"I'm going home_." Yuvin puts himself in front of the way with arms opened wide to stop her from leaving.

_"Let's eat dinner!" _he cheerfully said. Without wasting a second,_ "No." _she quickly turned him down and tries to sidestep the obstacle aka Song Yuvin. However, he moves fast and blocked her way again_. "C'mon! It will be my treat!" _He tries to persuade her more.

Who doesn't like free food? Even the StrongIndependentWoman Hayi will bend to free food. Hayi is now thinking that a cooked meal will be far better than her usual ramen dinner. She can also use this opportunity to get away from her thesis workload, but the problem is sitting on a table with this boy who has an attention span of a goldfish. While Hayi was lost in her thoughts, Yuvin took the chance to pull her and take her to the opposite way. Well, there goes Hayi's plan to do her thesis tonight.

After a few minutes of walking, more like Yuvin dragging Hayi, they have reached the nearby Italian restaurant. As they enter the store, the aroma of fresh garlic and herbs welcomes them. Hayi is actually a regular customer there because she's pretty much obsessed with their food. The store offers a variety of pasta and pizza, but it is best known for their Creamy Chicken Parmesan Lasagna that's perfectly cooked every. single. time.

So, when Yuvin asks her _"What can I get you, Madam Hayi?"_ even with his annoying attempt to mimic the Italian accent, Hayi responded _"Lasagna!" _far too excitedly.

Yuvin responded with the same tone, _"Your wish is my command!" _Hayi realizes what she just did, and regrets it right away. She let out a sigh while Yuvin laughingly proceeds to line up and order. It is one of those rare nights where the store is not packed with customers. Hayi feels happy that she can eat her favorite pasta before she pulls another all-nighter. She sighs as she remembers the things she needs to do.

_"How would you like to pay?"_ Standing beside him, Hayi hears the staff asking Yuvin after he ordered their meal. Yuvin then takes his wallet from his jean's back pocket like a true gentleman. As Hayi looks at him, she imagines her future boyfriend to be as generous- or not.

Just at that moment, Yuvin took out a month worth supply of coupons with a shameless answer, _"With these coupons! Oh, and I would like to use the buy one take one ice cream coupon too!"_ Hayi just wants to disappear out of embarrassment. "_I'll find us a table_," she said before Yuvin can even ask Hayi what flavor she wants.

She hurriedly sits on the cozy spot by the window; her usually peaceful seat that she now has to share with her least favorite person. Yuvin sat down in front of Hayi, _"Those coupons saved me around 60% of the total amount! And I also got us some ice cream."_ he said.

_"Technically, the coupon got us the ice cream."_ Hayi crossed her arms in front of her. Yuvin, on the other hand, is just swinging the buzzer from one hand to another which raises Hayi's annoyance. _"Stop! You'll break it, and your coupons won't save you." _she added.

Yuvin pouted and asked, _"Why are you so mean! Well, you are always like that. But why are you extra irritable nowadays?" _True enough, Yuvin is correct. _"Thesis." she responds. "Oh... so you're graduating soon! Meanwhile, here I am, a third-year student still retaking my Algebra class." _Yuvin said with a mixture of happiness and sadness.

_Brr! Brr!_ The buzzer vibrates on the table, saving Hayi from handling a depressed Yuvin. _"I'll be back, Madam Hayi!" _He saluted with a big smile on his face. Hayi finds it weird that Yuvin can change his emotion in a snap. She guesses that it's normal for actors to be this way.

Yuvin arrives back carrying their food with him. _"One Creamy Chicken Parmesan Lasagna for Madam Go Hayi," _He said. Hayi ignored Yuvin's tactic to annoy her and instead focused her attention to her precious lasagna.

_"I think my Carbonara is broken," _Yuvin states as he examines his food. _"Broken?" _Hayi confusingly responded. _"There are mushrooms in it!" _He exclaimed in a rather loud voice. Hayi gives him a sharp look._ "That's part of this restaurant's recipe. Just eat it!" _she tries to explain_. "But I hate mushrooms! I vowed to never eat it when I was seven years old!" _Yuvin complained even more.

By now, people are starting to look at them and Hayi feels like she is talking to a toddler._ "Don't you dare_," she threatens Yuvin as she sees his hand reaching for her plate. _"I won't give you my food." _she added.

What happens next surprises her. Yuvin picks the mushroom one by one from his pasta and places them on her plate. She lets out a deep audible breath; allowing him to peacefully continue what he is doing. Yuvin gives a triumphant smile when he successfully places the last piece of mushroom.

As if no mushroom transfer happened earlier, _"So... How does it feel to be graduating soon?" _Yuvin seriously asks._ "Stressful," _Hayi answered.Silence follows and Hayi thought she'll be able to eat peacefully now._ "Doing thesis is really an uphill climb. There's no shortcut to finish it. You just have to do it, no matter how tiring and draining it is." _Yuvin surprisingly responded in a very serious tone._"Even our life after the University is going to be a whole new level of hurdles, so it's important to learn how to be independent as early as we can. You're disciplined and has a clear mindset. I know you can do it!" _He encourages her.

Hayi can't believe that those words are coming out from the mouth of Song Yuvin. She's in awe because he has never been this serious when they talk. _"All students need to go through the circle of life... Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!!!" _He suddenly chants the lyrics from the Lion King. And just like that, Hayi lost all the admiration she felt a few minutes ago. Song Yuvin will never be a person anyone can take seriously, Hayi thoughts to herself.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

After an hour, Hayi and Yuvin finish their meal and head out._ "Wow! Look at the starry night!" _Yuvin said while admiring the sky. _"I remember when I was younger, I used to sneak out at night so I can watch the stars. It's so fascinating but my neighbor just had to tell my mother! Kookheon seriously-" _he halted when he felt that Hayi was not around anymore.

_"Hey! Wait for me!" _he shouted and began to run to the said girl. Once he catches up to her, he said:_ "Why did you leave me?" _while breathing heavily._ "Noisy," _is all she said. _"Anyways, Wow! Look at the starry night! I remember when I was-" _Hayi interrupts him before he can continue to retell his story.

_"Why are you so annoying?" _she irritatedly asks._"Me? Annoying?" _Yuvin laughs while pointing to himself. Hayi just rolled her eyes and walked ahead. She just wishes to get to her dorm room as fast as she can. Today was indeed an extremely chaotic day, and she can't wait to hit the hay after she makes some progress with her thesis.

_"Goodnight, Hayi!" _Yuvin said upon arriving at her dorm building. _"Bye."_ is all Hayi can say. It's been a long day and she is glad it'll be over soon. Although Hayi has been cold to Yuvin almost the entire time they were together, the boy smiles as he watches her safely enter her dorm.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	5. ☾⛧ Notice me miss Hayi senpai ⛧☽

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Loud blaring sounds coming from her phone wake up Hayi. She lazily rolls on her bed and reaches for her phone to turn the alarm off.

_Bee-_

Like a ritual, she always checks her phone before getting out of bed. 10:03 AM. She opens Instagram and admires her feed. She uploads personal photos from time to time, but it's mostly filled with her drawings and paintings to attract commissioned art works from anyone. Although her parents pay for her school fees, like what Yuvin said to her last night, Hayi wants to learn how to be independent and support herself as early as possible. However, she's not taking any artwork requests at the moment since she's busy with her thesis.

She checks her notifications and sees it flooded with Yuvin's comments. As usual, he's asking for a followback. It's not that Hayi is being stingy with her followings, but she just wants to limit her interaction with Yuvin. She already sees him enough at the store.

10:20 AM. Her class is only an hour away so she forces herself to get up. With her eyes half closed, Hayi takes a bath, dresses up, heats water, puts on minimal makeup aka bb cream and eyebrow pencil, pours hot water to cup ramen, eats it, drinks water, brushes her teeth, loosely ties her hair, puts on her shoes, and goes out of her dorm.

When she was a freshman, Hayi put effort into her appearance everyday in fear of judgement from other students. However, she is now a full-blooded art student who does things "my way."

Hayi sleepily walks her way to the university and before she knew it, she's already at the gates with her best friend Sejin waving his hand only inches away from her face. _"Oh... Lee Sejin... Hi." _She belatedly greets him with a monotonous tone. Sejin laughs at her before asking _"Why do you look so annoyed?" _But before Hayi could answer,_ "Is the reason Yuvin?"_ he continues. Hayi opens her eyes wide to shoot lasers at Sejin. _"Why are you talking about him?" _Her sleepiness is now replaced by annoyance. Sejin shakes his head at her, still laughing. _"I know he's the only person that could make you look like this." _Hayi sighs before saying, _"Well, I mean, I'm not exactly thinking of him right now but yeah, he's the main source of my stress."_ Sejin links arms with Hayi to walk with her to their classroom. _"What did he do this time?" _he asks.

Hayi takes the time to reflect and find an answer. However, she can't pinpoint an exact reason why she's annoyed at Yuvin except _"he's annoying."_ _"Right, but he's annoying to anyone." _Sejin shrugs._ "You know, he kept spamming my Instagram comments." _He shares which perks Hayi's mood up. _"Me too. He kept on asking for a followback." _She tells Sejin to which he replies, _"Then why don't you follow him already?" "Because he's annoying!!!" _Hayi says with emphasis. _"I think you're just being too sensitive." _Sejin tells her in a serious tone. Hayi sighs before agreeing. _"Even Yuvin told me that yesterday. I think thesis is making my mood swings worse these days." _Sejin looks at her with a worried face. _"I know you're a hard worker, but don't push yourself too much. Thesis is important, but so are you." _He consoles her.

Hayi can do anything as long as she sets her mind on it. It's what has helped her survive all her trials in college. However, it is also part of her personality to be so focused on doing one thing that she forgets about the other important things in life. Thankfully, she has Sejin who is always there to remind her that there is more to life than just studying.

_"So, how's your thesis? What's the progress?" _Sejin asks. _"I already finished chapter 1." _Hayi breathlessly answers. _"It was so hard to defend the need for my thesis. I just wanted to do something unique..." _she continues with her voice getting softer and softer. _"Well, you wanted this anyways." _Sejin snickers at her. _"I already told you, thesis papers are enough to drive you crazy but you also wanted to do an exhibit? On top of that, you're gonna have to create all the pieces of the exhibit yourself?" _Hayi drops her shoulders. What Sejin said is right. She brought all this agony onto herself.

They finally arrive at their classroom after quite a long walk and as they sit on their seats, Sejin thinks twice before opening his mouth. _"By the way," _he calls Hayi's attention. _"I know you already have plenty of stuff to do, but! My uncle is asking for a commissioned work... from you." _Hayi slouches. _"You know, I stopped accepting for now." _Sejin straightens his posture. "_I know, but he's willing to pay big." _His eyes widen at the last word for emphasis. Hayi only stares at him before asking, _"How much?"_ Sejin leans in to her ear to tell her, _"2 million won." _Hayi covers her mouth due to surprise. _"Why is he paying that big?" _she asks and Sejin responds, _"Because he's rich! Also, he wants to give it to his fiancée as a proposal gift." _Hayi mouths _"Wow"_ in admiration.

Hayi is tempted to accept the work but she remembers her workload. She slouches onto her seat once again. _"I actually told my uncle that you're busy but he saw your works and he really liked your style." _Sejin adds in hopes of Hayi accepting the commission. _"I'll think about it." _Hayi lifelessly says.

_"I'll give you his number." _Sejin reaches for Hayi's phone and types in his uncle's number. While typing, Hayi's phone receives a notification. Sejin reads, _"syv0428 commented: Miss Hayi, please follow me back TT."_ Hayi can only shake her head.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	6. ☾⛧ Yuvin VS Algebra ⛧☽

****Tuesday is Yuvin's least favorite day of the week. The reason is he needs to attend his Algebra class. Just barely thirty minutes into the class, Yuvin is already in a sour mood. His knowledge as someone who's taking the subject for the second time is simply terrible. For him, the hour-long class is seriously pure torture. He really couldn't understand anything today, or from any other days as well.

When the clock hits o'clock, he can't help but let out a deep breath. That is partly because the class is over and mostly because, yet again, he did not learn anything. As he wakes his seatmate, who fell asleep in the middle of the class, he thinks that at least he isn't alone in this misery. _"Class is over, bro. I'll go ahead," _he said to the disoriented boy. He walks out of the room and heads to his usual spot at the benches near the open basketball court.

As the breeze blows, students gather outside to enjoy the calm afternoon. Yuvin reaches one of the benches and heavily sits on it. He cannot imagine how he will pass his Algebra class. What if he fails? He then needs to retake it for the third time! Yuvin shakes his head as that scenario would be a nightmare. _"Think positive, Song Yuvin!" _he encourages himself.

Before another wave of negativity comes to his head, he quickly takes his phone out to send a message to the X-Men group chat. _"Please accompany Wolverine at 1407 Graymalkin Lane,"_ he sends his code name and location to everyone. Yuvin thinks that being with his friends will surely cheer him up. Although most of them are older, he certainly feels that they share a special friendship; a bond that will never break. That is why he trusts them with his life.

_"Cyclone here. What's up, Wolverine?" _Kookheon suddenly says upon arriving. Yuvin looks at his friend with great relief. "_At last," _he responds. At that very moment, Jinhyuk, Byungchan, and Seungyoun with his melodica also arrive at their headquarters. _"Why have you summoned us here?" _Jinhyuk asks with a hint of playful in his voice. _"That's right. Why are we all here?" _Seungwoo adds as he takes the last seat. Yuvin looks at his friends one by one and says, _"I think I'll fail my Algebra class again."_

A burst of laughter erupts from the boys causing people to turn their head to look at them. _"You probably memorized the lessons already, and you'll be too knowledgeable to take it again!" _Seungyoun jokingly tries to say in the middle of his laugh. Once again, the boys' laughter roars throughout the area. While Yuvin, on the other hand, feels and looks betrayed. _"Hold up! I think Seungyoun is right!" _Jinhyuk starts. _"You can probably be the next, Algebra professor!" _he adds. Yuvin thinks he needs to double-check if they truly are his friends. He called them to cheer him up, and not to add salt to the wound!

_"If that is true, then you might be the last one to be left behind here in the University!" _Byungchan joins in. At this point, everyone already has tears in their eyes because of how much they have been laughing. Well, except for the star of the show. Yuvin finds himself with no words. He remains silent with a frown on his face.

_"Wait, are you seriously upset?" _Kookheon interrupts everyone's laughter when he saw Yuvin's face. The latter pouts, clearly he is not happy. Everyone's laughter slowly fades away and is now bewildered because it's such a rare emotion for Yuvin to possess since he is always in a good mood.

Out of nowhere, a piece of music suddenly plays from the melodica. Seungyoun plays the popular sad tune, X1-MA, on his instrument of the day. Everyone tries to hold back their laughter while Seungyoun continues to play the music.

"_Okay, let's stop playing around now." _Seungwoo begins to shift the atmosphere. He shot a sharp look to Seungyoun who unwillingly stops playing his melodica. He then calmly asks Yuvin, _"What exactly are you worried about?"_

That question remains in Yuvin head. What exactly is the problem? For him, there are many things he is worried about. First, it's embarrassing for a third-year student to be taking a basic class with the first-year students. Secondly, all of his friends passed the subject already while he cannot. Thirdly, more factors contribute to his worry that's too many to mention.

_"It's just that..." _he tries to start but pauses to rethink his reason. _"Well... I just really can't understand anything no matter how hard I focus!" _he explains then he suddenly sits up straight so quickly as he remembers something. With wide eyes, he continued, _"My mom will disown me if I tell her I failed again!"_

_"Oh yeah... your mother is a math teacher," _Kookheon responds while scratching his head. _"She'll seriously kill you this time." _He continues as if he is telling the ending of the tale, Yuvin shivers in fear.

_"If that happens, I'll go with you to tell your mother," Seungwoo assures him. "But remember, everyone goes through failures, and that doesn't mean you are not good." _He puts his hand on Yuvin's shoulder._ "Instead, you need to work harder, and you'll eventually overcome this difficulty. We are all here for you!" _Seungwoo comments to encourage him while the others nod their head in agreement.

_"I can let you borrow my notes if you want!" _Seungyoun says to sincerely help his friend. The boys then looks at each other, not knowing if he was kidding or not. "_I seriously like math very much," _he defends himself.Well, Yuvin is not fully convinced, but he appreciates all the help he can get.

They may have made fun of Yuvin, and that's fine. He has a chaotic and annoying group of friends, but they are his pillar of support. Being sad and upset doesn't go well with him anyways.

_"Remember who you are." _Byungchan suddenly tries to quote the iconic line of Mufasa. Everyone looks at Yuvin and waits for his response. Yuvin closes his eyes for a second and opens them again after taking a deep breath. _"I am Song Yuvin, the Wolverine!"_ he cheerfully shouted. There goes back the true Song Yuvin. Silly and naturally annoying in every way possible. The group lingers for the next hour just talking, mostly annoying each other, then part ways to go to their individual plans. 

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	7. ☾⛧ Unplanned Consultation with TA Seungwoo ⛧☽

Tuesday. 7:21 PM. The second day of the week but Hayi feels exhausted already. She removes her hair tie and fixes her hair. Looking around the still crowded library, an unusual sight for this hour, she lets out a sigh. Just like her, there are still many students working so hard to do their school workloads. _"When did time go by so fast?" _she murmurs to herself.

Hayi has been in the library since four o'clock this afternoon after her professor gave the whole period to go to the library. As a disciplined person, she took the opportunity to do her thesis paperwork. She was looking forward to being as productive until before her night shift later. However, here she is, stuck in the same sentence for the past hour.

_"In the past, my works were mainly centered and inspired by the recollection of my youth, the unsteady flow of my emotions, and lastly, my raw and imperfect imagination."_ She reads the last complete sentence she has written down. _"Currently, my work leans... towards..." _She tries to continue, but there is nothing.

_"Do you mind if I sit here?" _someone asks out of nowhere. Hayi looks up and sees Seungwoo smiling at her. _"Nope," _she shortly responded and then went back to her work. She hears Seungwoo pulling the seat in front of her, but all her attention is on her laptop screen.

_Currently, my work leans towards the current trends and... highlights my growth as an artist? _Hayi writes unsurely. This should be a very simple topic. But here she is, having a hard time to come up with anything. She feels a wave of worry that she won't be able to find the right words. At this point, Hayi is already pulling her hair in agony.

_"You're in your last semester, right?" _Hayi hears Seungwoo's question. She looks up and remembers that she's sharing a table with someone. _"Yes, I am." _Hayi cooly answers as she fixes her and sits up straight.

Seungwoo seems like he doesn't mind her odd behavior earlier._ "How is it going so far?" _He asks. Hayi considers to give a composed answer to protect her image, but goes against it, knowing that she obviously looks extremely stressed right now._ "Not quite well," _she admits while closing her laptop._ "I'm drowning with all the things I have to do," _she then continues as she crosses her arms in front of her._ "It's like I dug my own hole and fell right into it."_

Sejin was probably right. She brought all of this stress upon herself when she chose to go with this kind of theme for her thesis. Seungwoo sees the look on her face. It shows how she's really worried about the result of her work.

_"Take a break. Try to breathe in and breathe out." S_eungwoo tries to support her. _"I know," _Hayi responds since she hears that all the time from her professors. Here is another professor, or a teacher's aide to be exact, saying the same thing.

_"No! What I meant was for you to do it." _Seungwoo says with a far too cheerful smile on his face. Hayi finds it weird that this is coming out from a teacher's aide._ "Like this!" _He continues as he shows her how to properly breathe like she doesn't know.

_"You should probably stop hanging out with your friends. You're becoming annoying as well." _Hayi tries to work her way out from doing the breathing exercises. "_It's not annoying when I'm trying to help someone out." _Seungwoo reasons and continues to persuade Hayi, _"C'mon, breath in." _Hayi has no choice but to go along with it.

They both did the breathing exercise for a few times. Hayi admits that it is calming but did not show it. _"It wasn't that difficult, right?"_ Seungwoo asks her. _"Yup."_ Hayi shortly answers while opening her laptop again.

_"Seriously, it's just like how you can't continue painting without letting the first layer of paint to dry."_ Seungwoo states. He leans on the table and continues, _"You should take it one step at a time. Resting is part of the progress too."_ He ends meaningfully.

Hayi allows Seungwoo's words to sink in, and realizes that he's correct. The reason why she isn't making any progress is that she's been pushing herself too much. That could be why her mind has been so messy. One layer of paint at a time, Hayi reminds herself.

_"That metaphor surprisingly works. Thank you for that, and maybe for the breathing exercise as well." _Hayi says, half-jokingly, in which Seungwoo responds with a friendly smile and says, _"Yuvin's quite stressed today too... No, he's actually sad." _Well, that surprises Hayi because Yuvin can be anything but sad._ "That's new." She responded._

_"I know... it's totally bizarre, but it's understandable why he is upset." _He confirms the truth then took a deep breath before he continues, _"He said that he might fail his Algebra class... again."_

Hayi thinks that failing a subject is terrible, but she isn't surprised anymore knowing that it's Yuvin. She holds in her laugh as she imagines Yuvin struggling to solve a problem, just like how he always clumsily makes mistakes in their store inventory.

Seungwoo sees that she is holding in her smile. _"You should learn to go with the flow and enjoy life too," _he interrupts her thoughts._ "Try to appreciate the things around you. But if you need help, I'm here and so is Yuvin." _Seungwoo teasingly ends. Hayi glares at him,_ "Thank you but I'm doing fine by myself," _she says.

Hayi checks the time sees that it's time to head to the convenience store for her midnight shift. _"I have to go now." _She says to Seungwoo as she packs her things. _"Remember, what I said." _he reminds her. Hayi isn't sure which part he was pertaining to, but she just nods her head and waves goodbye to Seungwoo.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	8. ☾⛧ "If you're gonna dream, you gotta dream big, you know!" - Song Yuvin (2019) ⛧☽

****_"He's gonna be late again." _Hayi sighed to herself after reading Hangyul's text. Instead of her usual 4-8 PM shift, Hayi's work starts at 8 PM and ends at 12 midnight every Tuesday. However, she is stuck with Yuvin until Hangyul arrives since it's their store policy to never leave only one staff at the store. Meanwhile, Wooseok, Yuvin's shift partner every Tuesday, rushed out of the store as soon as Hayi arrived, knowing Hangyul will be late and one of them has to stay to cover for him.

If this was any other day, Hayi would be very much annoyed at the presence of Yuvin. However, he is not his usual self today.

_"Did you pass Algebra at one try?" _Yuvin softly asks Hayi. _"Yeah," _she replies without looking at the boy. As usual, she's reading her notes. _"What was your grade?" _Yuvin curiously asks and Hayi simply replies, _"A." _Upon hearing that, both Yuvin's mouth and soul drops. He shakes his head. _"Meanwhile, I've never even reached the passing score for any of my quizzes."_ He falls on his knees and rests his cheeks on the counter. _"I hate math and I'm really bad at it, but I've never been this miserable. I don't even want high grades. I just want to pass. Do you know-" _Hayi cuts him off. _"Yeah, you might have to retake Algebra again. Seungwoo already told me." _Yuvin is surprised. Hayi sighs before facing him to give suggestions. _"Why don't you get a tutor? Or why don't you ask Seungyoun for help? He was my classmate at Algebra. He's good."_

Hayi can see the sides of Yuvin's mouth rising. _"Aww... you care for me!" _He says with a playful tone, and at that moment, Hayi knows she made a wrong move. She rolls her eyes. _"I was just suggesting solutions so you'd stop crying about your problem already." _She sharply replies while turning her attention back to her notes, but Yuvin is unchanged. _"That's so sweet." _Yuvin says with his hand over his chest. This is why Hayi doesn't like talking to him. _"Hangyul, I will seriously kill you later." _She thinks to herself.

_"Seungyoun actually offered to give me his Algebra notes. Thank you, Miss Hayi!" _Yuvin tells Hayi to which she only replies with a nod. _"Now, it's your turn," _he says. Hayi is confused. _"What do you mean?" _Yuvin leans on the counter. _"I told you my problems and you gave me an advice. Now, it's your turn to tell me your problems and I will give you an advice." _He explains.

Hayi can't believe the situation. _"I didn't ask you to tell me your problems, though?" _She says, but Yuvin insists. _"But I already told you mine! It's not fair!" _He pouts and Hayi just shakes her head. _"No, but seriously," _Yuvin changed his tone to a more serious one. _"You said you were stressed yesterday. Is your thesis not going well?"_ Hayi is caught off guard. She has plenty to rant about but she doesn't want to share it to Yuvin.

_"You can tell me about it. I promise I'll listen and keep my mouth shut." _Hayi is amazed at how this guy can be so self-aware sometimes. She looks at him and sees him giving her a reassuring smile. _"Okay..." _She takes a deep breath before talking. _"Well, you see, I wanted to do something unique for my thesis, and I think I might have been too ambitious." _Yuvin straightens his posture, while reflecting on Hayi's words. He tries to cheer her up by saying, _"There's nothing wrong with being ambitious. If you're gonna dream, you gotta dream big, you know!" _But Hayi already reflected on that. _"I know that, but I can't just keep on dreaming. I need to make it a reality."_ She tells Yuvin, and he takes a moment to be amazed at her words. _"Well, that's true." _Yuvin nods in agreement, but he continues,_ "But you know what's the good thing about being ambitious? If you fail, then you know you were being ambitious anyways. But if you succeed, then that's great, right?!" _Hayi laughs at what Yuvin just said. _"You're right." _She replies while smiling, and Yuvin notes that it's the first time he's seen her smile and laugh so spontaneously.

_"By the way, I wrote a short scene for a play. Wanna see it?" _He changes the topic to extend the brightened atmosphere. Hayi doesn't hesitate nodding her head. _"Sure." _She says. Yuvin clears his throat before proceeding. _"You know the words 'once upon a time'? It makes you listen. Well, there's a reason." _He narrates as he shifts his position. _"When you dream," _Hayi is actually getting absorbed into it. _"There's a chance you'll find a little laughter or happy ever after." _Yuvin continues and Hayi's eyebrows slowly furrows. She's sure she's heard those words before. _"You're harmony to the melody." _Yuvin points to his head._ "It's echoing inside my head, a single voice above the noise, and like a common thread... Hmm... you're pulling me." _Hayi closes her eyes while trying to suppress her annoyance. She now remembers where she heard this.

_"Song Yuvin, seriously..." _She pulls Yuvin near her to beat him. _"When I hear my favorite song, I know that we belong." _Yuvin continues with a shaky voice, and another voice sings the next part. _"Oh~ you are the music in me." _Hayi and Yuvin turn to see Hangyul already at the store. Yuvin takes the opportunity to escape from Hayi, but she chases him. He runs towards Hangyul and out of the store. _"Ya! Come back here!!!" _Hayi shouts as she couldn't catch up to him. She then turns to her side where Hangyul is and suddenly remembers she planned to kill him earlier. _"Why are you late again?!" _Hayi changes her target to Hangyul.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	9. ☾⛧ You have saved my life, I am eternally grateful. ⛧☽

Hayi has never considered herself as a night owl. As a matter of fact, she can barely stay up late at night, especially during her first year at the University. This girl needs her sleep for her brain to function well; that's why she mastered the art of planning.

Her friends describe her as someone who has her days always planned out. In fact, the great Hayi never goes a day without planning. As much as she can, she never decides spontaneously.

_"Remember what I said! Don't make any rushed decision!" _She reminded Hangyul as she exits the store. The said boy always make on the spot plans, which sometimes causes him to come in late. Hangyul saluted without taking in her advice seriously. Of course, Hayi can only give a piece of advice, and she cannot push anyone to follow it. However, she sincerely hopes Hangyul to be punctual.

_"Change comes when you least expect it, right?" _Hayi says in her mind as the cool midnight breeze lightly blows her hair away. It's a peaceful night, where the moon is her only companion. Hayi starts to walk back home and passed several empty restaurants. Not a single soul is out during this hour on a school day, so she always enjoys this time alone.

Two minutes in her journey, she usually turns left at the corner of the bakery; the store she often buys her favorite cheese bread every Sunday. Its festive lights are now switched off, and the only light she can see is shining softly on a person's face. The man is sitting on the bench in front of the store; deeply immersed in whatever is playing on his phone.

Hayi, on the other hand, is a little bit too far to tell if it's a bad person or not. However, from the way the man is sitting straight while holding the phone; explains that he may not be drunk.

As she nears, Hayi can only hope that she doesn't need to use her pepper spray. But, just in case, she took it out of her bag.

Her footsteps echoed through the empty street. Each step makes her heart race. Then the man turned his head to look at her. _"Hi, Hayi!" _Yuvin suddenly greeted with his other hand waving at her.

_"Why are you here?" _She questions him as she clenches her pepper spray in her hand. That caught his attention and said, _"You care for me, so I know you won't use that," _he smilingly said while putting his phone in his bag. _"To answer your question, I was waiting for you!"_

Hayi just let out a deep breath and returned it to her bag. She then continues to walk, ignoring him. On the other hand, Yuvin tries to catch up to her. _"The streets aren't safe at night, so I am here to take you home." _He confidently added to offer his service to the lady.

_"I have been going home just fine for months now." _Hayi irritably said and continued to walk even faster. The crosswalk was just 8 meters away from Hayi. The walk signal illuminates 12 seconds before it turns red. Hayi smirks, knowing that she'll easily get away from Yuvin. Therefore, she briskly walks with her eyes on the signal. _"Hayi!" _Yuvin shouts to catch her attention. Hayi thinks he is trying to tell her not to cross the road, so she nearly runs to get to the crosswalk in time.

Suddenly, Hayi feels someone grab her arm to pull her back. She almost lost her balance when a bicycle quickly passes by in front of her. It was going in lightning speed that Hayi didn't even have time to process that she nearly got run over by a bicycle. _"Seriously! Why is he cycling on the sidewalk?!" _Hayi hears, or rather, feels the vibration of Yuvin's voice. They are now standing extremely close to each other, with Yuvin allowing her to put her whole weight on him, while Hayi slowly looks up to her savior. She is not sure if her heart is pounding from the rush of adrenaline due to the earlier event, or from her current view.

With their faces just a few inches away, Hayi can see how long Yuvin's eyelashes are, and how wrinkles are forming on his forehead because of how frustrated he is at the moment. Yet, Hayi still finds it cute. Without her planning, her heart skipped a beat. _"Change comes when you least expect it, right?" _She suddenly recalls her own words.

Hayi tries to snap out of it by pushing herself away from Yuvin. At this rate, she can only guess how red her face has become. Her only hope is that Yuvin will not notice anything. _"Are you okay?" _He worriedly asks her.Hayi can only nod her head, knowing that she can't trust herself right now.

_"Why didn't you stop when I called you!" He starts to scold her for being reckless. "You could have been severely hurt!" _Yuvin continued as he checks if she is seriously okay. _"What could have happened if I wasn't here! You should be thankful that I am here to take you home."_

_"This happened because of you." _Hayi mumbles to herself, not wanting Yuvin to hear her. _"What did you say? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you want to go to the hospital? I will take you-" _his questions were interrupted when Hayi turned to walk again. _"Whatever." _She said loud enough for Yuvin to hear.

_"After I saved your life, you'll just say, whatever!?" _Yuvin follows her until they reached the crosswalk where he took the liberty to make sure there was really no car before they crossed. Hayi thinks Yuvin is overreacting, but a tiny part of her, which she refuses to listen, actually appreciate the gesture.

_"Shouldn't you at least say thank you to me?" _Once they successfully crossed the road, Yuvin begins to whine. Hayi chooses to disregard his request and walks ahead again. Yuvin allows her this time and just stayed behind.

_"I think I deserve recognition for the heroic act I did." _Yuvin loudly talks to himself for Hayi to especially hear. _"Who else could have done such a brilliant deed? " _He continued as they walk in the not so peaceful night anymore.

Hayi, on the other hand, is now becoming more and more irritated with Yuvin's obvious intention. She is trying to keep herself from having to look at him due to the current state of her heart. However, knowing Yuvin, he won't stop until he gets at least a single response from her.

To play it cool without turning to face him, she monotonously said, _"You have saved my life, I am eternally grateful." _Hayi thinks that's enough to please her so-called hero. What she got in response is another wave of unsatisfied request from him. _"Say it, as if you are tiny bit genuine."_

Tonight was planned to be her night to rest, but here she is, trying to surpass her own confused heart and her growing annoyance. To get it over with, she turned around with the most forced smile she has ever placed on her face, and said, _"What a brave boy you are!" _She begins then proceeds to pat his head, just like how she normally does with Eunsang. Although she felt her heart melts because of how soft and fluffy his hair is, she continued, _"Thank you for taking care of your senior!"_

Hayi's forced smile was wiped out of her face when Yuvin pushed her hand away with a scowl. He then turned Hayi around and ordered her to walk ahead. Hayi was left dumbfounded about what just happened._"He wanted to be praised then throws a tantrum when he gets one." _She said to herself as she continues walking without looking back.

It was silent for the rest of the walk back to her dorm. Hayi believes it's the quietest moment she has ever shared with Yuvin. She would have enjoyed it if only the atmosphere isn't as heavy as it evidently is.

When they arrive in front of Hayi's dorm, she turns to Yuvin, who still looks a bit down. She is contemplating at first but decided to initiate, for the first time, a simple _"Goodnight."_

Yuvin's face suddenly brightens up upon hearing Hayi say that one word. He looks at her in the eyes while a big smile makes way on his face before replying, _"Goodnight, Hayi." _Hayi feels her cheeks heating up, so she turned around and hurriedly ran to her dorm entrance.

Nothing about tonight was included in Hayi's plan. Though it drained most of her energy, there is a tiny part of her who feels happy to have an unusual experience on the same route she has been taking for the past four years.

It can be considered a nice change, at least for now.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	10. ☾⛧ Hayi's confused heart ⛧☽

_"Are you okay?"_ Yuvin's voice still rings in Hayi's ears. Earlier scenes are replaying in her mind. She remembers how beautiful his eyelashes were up close or how plump his cheeks actually were. The wrinkles on his forehead while he was ranting about the bicycle man looked so cute and then his lips...

Hayi snaps out of her thoughts and realizes she left the sink water running. She immediately finishes washing her face and shakes her head to forget whatever happened earlier with Yuvin. _"I seriously cannot be thinking about him. Not like this. Ew." _She cringes. _"You suddenly think he's cute or whatever after an unexpected hug because you lack romance in life. That's all." _She convinces herself and then proceeds to wiping her face dry with a towel.

Hayi removes her hair tie and climbs on her bed. She reaches for her phone out of her bag and sees a text message from Sejin. She opens it as she lies down comfortably.

Hayi suddenly feels the urge to tell Sejin about what happened with Yuvin. She and Sejin have been friends since high school and they've known each other's crushes— _"Wait." _Hayi stops herself. _"Yuvin's not my crush!" _She violently shouts in her head. She hurriedly erases her messages and instead of sharing the events from earlier, Hayi simply sends a _"Goodnight!" _text to Sejin. She then proceeds to sending a message to Sejin's uncle before going to sleep. 

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	11. ☾⛧ Make up lessons from Kookheon ⛧☽

Every morning always feels significantly new. Sometimes we get a good night sleep and sometimes we don't. Today, Hayi is neither of those two choices.

She remembers falling asleep right after sending Sejin's uncle a message then she woke up at past eight this morning. Technically speaking, she had enough sleep, but she feels exhausted. Hayi thinks her body got the rest, but her mind was just continuously running. She tried to take in some caffeine before leaving her house for her morning class, but that didn't help much.

Now, here she is, trying to walk as fast as she can to get to class on time. Her production class is on the 6th floor, and she had no energy to use the stairs to go up. Instead, she waited for the elevator along with the morning rush of students who are also anxious to get to their classes.

With five minutes left, she finally reached her class. This period is usually packed, and today is no exemption. As she runs her eyes through the crowded room, and she sees a hand waving towards her. There she sees Kookheon, her classmate for this course. Most of the time, she stirs away from him due to obvious reasons. But today, the last chair is unluckily beside him.

Hayi makes her way towards the back of the room before the class officially begins. "You're strangely late today." Kookheon blurts out as Hayi takes her sit. "Correction. I was almost late." She responds with a tired voice. On the other hand, Kookheon notices Hayi's pale face up close and says, "You look lifeless today." She can only nod her head since he is right after all. Kookheon continuously looks at her intently and says, "Try to put blush on next time."

It is unusual for Hayi to hear makeup advice from someone else aside from the Youtube tutorials she watches. She knows Kookheon majors in production design, and doing makeup is one of his fortes. "I don't know what's the current trends nowadays," Hayi responded to take advantage of this rare opportunity. "What do you recommend?" She carefully asks.

Kookheon almost jumped off from his seat out of excitement, "I recently found this product," he began as he takes out something from his bag. "This is from the brand 3CE, and it's called Take a Layer Multi Pot in the shade of Diotima." He opens the product to show it to Hayi. "It is a beige apricot color that will look natural on your skin tone!" He then takes her wrist to do a test swatch, and true enough, the color matches her very well. After confirming his guess, he professionally continued to put on the product on her cheeks. Hayi is amazed at how Kookheon skillfully applied it. "Now, you don't look so pale!" He said once he finished. "By the way, you have really long eyelashes. I think you don't even need any false lashes!"

His comment surprises her since Hayi never expected to get such a compliment. "Uhm... thanks." She awkwardly said as he put the product back to his bag. "Do you also do the wood stick trick?" Hayi asks when she remembered the viral video of a professional makeup artist. "Oh, that!" He said as he gives her his attention again. "Yes, I do." He continued before laughing by himself, which made Hayi confuse. "Sorry... I just remembered the first time I tried it." She waited for him to continue as he chuckles.

"The first time I did the wood stick trick to curl the eyelashes was way back my senior year in high school." He said once he calmed down. "I, obviously, do not want to try something dangerous on myself so I bribed someone to be my model." Hayi can already tell that this story won't end well. "I just followed the instructions, so I took the wood stick and hit it up with fire. I got a bit too excited and didn't check the stick's temperature before curling the lashes." Kookheon is now trying to hold back his laughter as he tells the result, "His eyelashes got burned and fell off!"

Hayi can't surpass her own laughter because of how tragic yet funny the story is. However, she pities that person for being Kookheon's guinea pig. "Good thing Yuvin's eyelashes luckily grew back even better than before, thanks to me!" Kookheon proudly states.

Of course, where Kookheon is, there Yuvin will also be. These two grew up together, and they would always come as a duo. Hayi, on the other hand, feels awkward upon hearing Yuvin's name as flashbacks of his long and beautiful eyelashes flood her mind. "You have to believe me!" Hayi's expression may have come off as doubtful so Kookheon defends himself and asks, "Have you seen his eyelashes?"

Those long eyelashes that frame his eyes well, "Ye- No! I haven't!" Hayi blurs out but caught herself before she spills any more information of last night's event. "I don't have any intention to look at it," she continues with full conviction.

"Do you mind sharing with us what you two are talking about?" The professor suddenly asks. Both of them embarrassingly sat up and apologized. Kookheon looks at her with a hint of mischief, but he didn't talk anymore to focus in class.

Hayi has never thought she'll feel so confused and embarrassed in her life. As she goes back to sitting, her phone vibrates. She takes it out and sees a message alert. Sejin's uncle responded to her message last night. As if her existing emotional turmoil is not enough, she now feels nervous to meet a big-time client. "At least, Sejin will be there," Hayi assures herself before she replies back.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	12. ☾⛧Meeting Sejin's uncle ⛧☽

Luckily for Hayi, her only class for today ends at 2:20 PM and her shift at the convenience store doesn't start until 4 PM, so she definitely has time to meet with Sejin's uncle.

As she wasn't able to properly do her morning routine earlier today, she suddenly halts her walk, faces the glass windows of the store in front of her, uses it as a mirror, and fixes her hair and make up. _"You look like a human now. Thanks, Kookheon." _She laughs while remembering his make up tips from earlier. She takes one last look at her clothes and adjusts her skirt before continuing to walk to the meeting place.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

The chimes of the cafe doors ring as Hayi enters. She scans the area and sees Sejin seated facing a man at a corner of the cafe. Sejin sees her and waves at her. Hayi waves back and sees his uncle look back to her direction. She almost gasped loudly. As if it wasn't enough that she's already nervous at the thought of meeting a client, her heart starts fluttering harder upon seeing a handsome face. _"Crazy. Is his face real?"_ She thinks to herself. She nervously approaches the two but tries to present a calm and composed appearance. Hayi goes beside Sejin.

_"Good afternoon, Mr. Lee." _Hayi bows to Sejin's uncle. _"Please, just call me Dongwook." _He says as he extends his arms for a handshake. Hayi lightly laughs. _"Nice to meet you, Mr. Dongwook."_ _"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Hayi_. _Have a seat." _He offers and Hayi responds with a tiny _"Sure."_

_"Thank you for making some time today, Ms. Hayi. I'm sorry if it was too sudden." _Dongwook says as they were sitting down but Hayi shakes her head. _"No, it's okay. It's my free time until 4 PM." "Oh, I see. Let's not waste anymore time then." _Dongwook then pulls out an envelope and explains, _"This is my first time requesting for an artwork commission and I don't really know how it works. So, I searched for some artworks and printed them out for reference." _Hayi is impressed. Her past clients do not give references or pegs until she asks one from them. _"That will be very helpful. Thank you." _She replies.

As Dongwook takes out the contents of the envelope, Hayi notices the girls seating behind him trying to take a photo of him secretly. She then subtly looks at her side and sees more people whispering at each other while looking at them. She leans in to ask Dongwook a question. _"Aren't you uncomfortable, sir? People are looking at you."_ But Dongwook smiles while saying, _"It's okay. I'm used to it."_

Hayi is amazed but she tries not to show it. _"I guess this is normal for actors?"_ She makes a remark, and Dongwook agrees. _"As long as they don't follow me to my house, I'm not really bothered." _They laugh.

_"By the way, uncle, didn't you also study at our university?" _Sejin changes the topic and Hayi is once again surprised. _"Really?" _She asks. _"Yes, I'm an alumnus from the theater arts department." _Dongwook enthusiastically replies. For a moment, Hayi remembers Yuvin who's taking the same course, but she immediately shakes away the thought. "_Actually, this very cafe was our hang out place back then. I'm glad it didn't change that much." _Dongwook gazes around the interior of the cafe before finally giving Hayi the artwork references.

_"These are mostly surrealist scenery paintings." _Hayi comments. _"Although you've also included some realist portraits" _She continues. _"Yes. As you may have already heard from Sejin, I want to give this artwork to my fiancée as my proposal gift." _Dongwook explains. _"And the image I want to portray in the artwork is a very chaotic setting, but then, there is the two of us, standing beside each other in the midst of everything." _Hayi gets her notepad to write down Dongwook's vision. _"The image you have in your mind... are you thinking of having the surroundings painted in surrealism while your portraits are very realistic?" _Hayi asks to flesh out his idea. _"That's right." _Dongwook answers._ "I want to have a contrast in our portraits and the background." _Hayi nods in understanding. _"That's very sweet. I'm imagining it would somewhat look like a wedding portrait." _She comments to which Sejin agrees. _"Yeah, I was thinking the same too. I didn't know you were such a romanticist, uncle." _He jokes at Dongwook who replies, _"Well, not really. I just really love Hana." _And Hayi and Sejin both say _"Awww..."_

_"Is Ms. Hana your fiancée? Is it possible to see how she looks like for reference?" _Hayi clarifies. _"Yes. Oh. I didn't print any of her photos but I could give you her Instagram page." _Dongwook replies. _"Yes, that would be great."_ Hayi tells him.

_"So... would the execution be challenging?"_ Dongwook asks Hayi, and she can feel the conversation would now move towards whether or not she will accept the offer. _"Mixing styles in an artwork would definitely be challenging, but I really love your concept behind it."_ She replies. _"So is that a yes?" _Dongwook asks her. There it is. Hayi now needs to make a decision. _"I understand that you're loaded for this semester since I heard from Sejin that you're graduating." _Dongwook says before she can even say anything._ "I'm not rushing the artwork, although I'd appreciate to get updates from time to time about its progress." _He explains.

If only she wasn't taking her thesis right now, Hayi would immediately say yes. The pay is really good. The concept is really great. All that is making Hayi's life complicated is her thesis. _"I can be your assistant. I'm not yet graduating, anyways."_ Sejin interrupts Hayi's train of thoughts. She laughs. Suddenly, her heart feels lighter. _"Well, since Sejin offered help, then I'll accept it." _Hayi makes up her mind, and Dongwook is thankful about it. _"That's a relief." _He says.

Hayi knows accepting this commission work will make her life more stressful, but she has never backed down from a challenge. _"You can do it, Go StrongIndependentWoman Hayi."_ She tells herself.

**☾⛧New ** **Characters** **!⛧☽**

☆°˖✧ Lee Dongwook. Sejin's uncle. Theater actor. ✧˖°☆

☆°˖✧ Choi Hana. Lee Dongwook's fiancée. ✧˖°☆

** **

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	13. ☾⛧ Secret Agent Yuvin ⛧☽

****Yuvin riding his scooter around the university area is an image one would often see if they share the same schedule. He enjoys walking, but like everyone, he also has his lazy days. Not to mention, riding his scooter makes him look really cool. At least, that's what he thinks. That is why he's riding it today on his way to work.

He passes by the Noriter Cafe and does a double take after naturally glancing at the place. _"Is that Hayi?"_ He squints his eyes while still riding his scooter. He sees her with Sejin and another man whose back is facing him. He was so focused on them that he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. He loses balance and falls hard on the road.

He winces at the pain and sees a small cut on his elbow. _"Are you okay?" _A lady asks him. _"I'm fine. I was just distracted. Thank you." _He quickly answers. _"Good thing, you didn't hit anyone._" A grumpy old man tells him. _"Yes, I'm sorry."_ Yuvin gets up to apologize and fix his scooter. He doesn't see any damage so he sighs in relief.

_"Why are you so clumsy, Yuvin?" _He scolds himself. _"You look less cool now."_ He says and then he immediately remembers why he even fell in the first place. _"Hayi"_ He quickly forgets the pain of his wound and runs to the cafe. He sits on an empty table outside and tries to hide his face using the leaves of the plant standing beside him.

He can't see the face of the man Hayi and Sejin are talking to, and he is dying of curiosity. _"Wait. Am I spying on them?"_ He suddenly questions himself. _"What am I doing here? I have work in 10 minutes." _He tells himself, and he's oblivious that people seated near him can hear his little self-debate. _"Well, Hayi also has work in 10 minutes and she's still here, so."_ He tries to justify his behavior before going back to spying on Hayi.

At that moment, a group of women approached Hayi's table. Yuvin gets a good look at Dongwook's face as he turns to the ladies and takes a photo with them. He suddenly gasped to himself. _"Isn't that Lee Dongwook?"_ Yuvin takes his phone out to text Hayi, but he remembers he doesn't have her number. He scrolls through his contact list and sees Sejin's number saved. _"Ya, what are you doing right now?"_ He sends him a message instead. He observes if Sejin would check his phone, and he sees him checking it. But after checking his phone, Sejin simply puts down the phone on the table._ "So he's just gonna ignore me?!" _Yuvin feels betrayed upon witnessing Sejin ignore his text first hand.

_"How do they know each other though? Don't tell me, Sejin is setting them up on a blind date." _He jokes to himself but then he realizes that it's possible. He panics but before he could do anything, he sees Hayi, Sejin, and Dongwook all stand up and walk towards the exit. Yuvin hurriedly leaves his seat and rushes to the convenience store.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	14. ☾⛧ The mysterious case of Eunsang and His 2 banana milk ⛧☽

Do you know that wave of anxiousness that bugs you constantly, but then you'll realize that there was nothing to worry about? Well, that's exactly how Hayi feels right now as she walks to the convenience store with Sejin. _"That went better than I expected," _Sejin smilingly said while Hayi heaves a sigh of relief. _"Good thing your uncle is very understanding." _Sejin nods his head in agreement. He has always been close to his uncle because of his kind and generous heart, that's why Sejin knew that Hayi would benefit a lot from this commission work; both artistically and financially.

From a distance, they can see Yuvin's scooter messily parked in front of the store. _"Your favorite partner is here." _Sejin teasingly said knowing that Hayi would get irritated. True enough, Hayi gave a slight scoff as they near the store. _"Never in a million a year." _She responded as she tries to assure herself that last night's event is just a one-time thing.

The cold wind from the air conditioner greets both of them as they enter the convenience store. Yuvin who's pretending to be busy is standing by the counter while fixing the perfectly organized chocolate bars. _"Oh, you're here! How was your day?" _Yuvin turns and greets them with an overly cheerful smile. As usual, Hayi ignores him and is about to head to the backroom to change her clothes when Yuvin asked Sejin a question. _"Why didn't you reply to my message?"_

Sejin didn't answer right away. Instead, he moves to the closest rack of sweets while gesturing Hayi to follow him._ "Well, I didn't do anything special, so I don't have anything to say." _Sejin finally responds as he looks to the choices of jellies in front of him. Hayi picks the best ones for him and goes back to the counter together.

Yuvin persistently asked more once they got back. _"Did you go anywhere, like for example the coffee shop or something?" _Sejin lets out a gasp as he pays for his jellies. _"How did you know?" _Sejin asks as he looks at Hayi, who is as puzzled as he is right now.

Yuvin blabbered a random excuse, _"It was just a wild guess,"_ as he scratches his head. Sejin noticed a bruise on Yuvin's elbow. _"What happened to that?" _He pointed at the raw wound._ "It looks like a pretty deep cut." _Yuvin quickly responded with, _"Nothing,"_ followed by a nervous laugh as he hides his arm. The two friends found it weird but they just let it go since Sejin needs to go.

Soon after Sejin leaves, the store's atmosphere turned unusually awkward and quiet. Hayi escapes to the storage room to change into her regular uniform. With herself still half confused with last night's event with Yuvin, she doesn't want to be left alone with him. However, she has no choice but to unwillingly step back to the store.

Thankfully, Eunsang comes in the store right on time for his daily visit. Just like a ray of sunshine, the atmosphere immediately turned lively as he gives the two staff his brightest smile and greets them, _"Good Afternoon!"_ As usual, he goes straight to the fridge to get his regular drinks and pays at the counter. Hayi warmly greets him as she punches his drinks. _"Why are you always in the store to drink two milks?" _Yuvin curiously asks that also sparks Hayi's interest.

Before Eunsang can answer, the three high school students from Woollim Arts, Yunseong, Hyeop, and Junho, enter the store. While Hayi and Yuvin greet them at once, Eunsang is trying not to look nervous. He gets his purchases and tells Yuvin, _"Because I want to,"_ with a bright smile before sitting on his usual seat.

As it is a slow afternoon, most of the tables are empty, aside from Eunsang's table. The trio buys their usual cravings and sits at the window seats with their back facing Eunsang.

By the counter, Yuvin is observing Eunsang, still curious why he is in the store every day. While he has his eyes on the boy, one of the students from Woollim Arts chokes on his food and coughs loudly. Eunsang, who can clearly see them, changed his usual cheerful smile into a deeply worried frown. Yuvin also witnessed his sudden movement when he almost stood up and holding his milk, but then he reluctantly sat back down.

_"Junho, slow down!" _Yunseong gives his bottled water to his choking friend. Hyeop gently pats the boy's back as he drinks the water. _"Maybe someone remembered you, that's why you choked." _Hyeop jokingly said to his friend. Once Junho calmed down, he turns to his two friends to thank them, and they all just gave a big laugh due to the silly incident.

Noticing all the occurrences in front of him, Yuvin turns to try to catch Hayi's attention. It wasn't difficult for him to get noticed since his partner, just like him, also saw everything. They share a mutual look to confirm that Eunsang's action was far from normal. They continued to observe the boys until the Woollim trio leaves the store. As soon as they leave, Eunsang has become visibly sad, which also did not go unnoticed by the two observers.

Hayi worries for his favorite boy while Yuvin is exceptionally curious to find out some juicy information. Only a few moments after the Woollim trio exits the store, both Hayi and Yuvin made their way to Eunsang's table and carefully sit in front of him. The boy plays it cool by asking, _"What's up?" w_hile giving a forced smile. Hayi can read him like an open book, and knows that he is trying to mask his real emotions. She cautiously wants to approach the topic without overwhelming him, so she begins with a simple question, _"Are you okay?" However, Yuvin asks "Do you like him?" _at the same time as Hayi speaking.

Hayi's plan was immediately thrown out of the door due to Yuvin's unexpected question. By now, Eunsang face is red in pure shock from the sudden turn of events. Hayi can only give Yuvin a long stern look before she tries to explain to Eunsang what they saw earlier. _"We can't help but notice your reaction to the choking incident with Junho earlier,"_ she gingerly states. _"You look really worried... for him,"_ Hayi says slowly._ "So... we think that you might like him." _She continued as Yuvin bobs his head as he impatiently waits for the boy's answer.

Eunsang looks down, obviously uncomfortable with the current topic. He opens his mouth to explain, but no words come out as he still feels hesitant to say anything.

_"Yuvin, can you leave us alone for now?" _Hayi threateningly demanded, but Yuvin only turns his back without leaving the table. Hayi waited to see if he'll move, but he just sat there, unmoving. She just let him be and turns her attention back to Eunsang.

At this point, Eunsang is already nervously playing with his fingers while looking down. _"You don't have to tell me anything if you are not ready." _Hayi extends her hands to hold the shaken boy, offering a sense of assurance and comfort. It was not long after before he calms down and says, _"It's okay. I am ready." _He smiles, knowing that Hayi is someone he can trust.

With the boy's permission, Hayi restarts the conversation by simply rephrasing Yuvin's question. _"One of the reasons you often come here is because of that student, Junho, right?" _Eunsang took a deep breath as he thoughtfully looks down before a bright smile makes its way on his face. He then looks at Hayi and answers the question with a simple nod.

Hayi understands now. Especially with how frequent his visits are, and the usual purchases he makes. _"Well, that explains the two banana milk now." _Eunsang clearly blushes at that comment, but he can only smile in relief that he, at least, has someone to share his deep secret with now.

_"Do you need help with talking to him?" _Now thatHayi already asked the big question, she wants to lend a helping hand. As she waits for Eunsang to answer, Yuvin turns around to say, _"I can help you." _Hayi is completely sure that it would be an extremely bad idea. _"Uhm... I don-" _Eunsang's opinion got ignored as Yuvin confidently states, _"Leave it to me,"_ together with a creepy smile.

_"Oh boy, this sure will not end well," _Hayi and Eunsang think to themselves as they look at each other.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	15. ☾⛧ When you look me in the eyes ⛧☽

It has been hours since Eunsang left the store, and it has also been hours since Yuvin is doing his tasks while smiling and laughing to himself. _"He really looks so dumb." _Hayi whispers to herself as she watches Yuvin clean the tables. She's been trying to guess what kind of plan he has to help Eunsang talk to Junho, and based on what she's seeing, it really cannot be good.

_"There." _Yuvin satisfyingly says after wiping the last table clean. He whistles on his way back to the counter.

_"Ya, just what are you planning for Eunsang?" _Hayi frustratingly asks Yuvin. He hisses back at her. _"I already told you. I'll explain it to you in due time." _Before Hayi could even say anything, Yuvin continues,_ "Why are you being annoying?" _She lets out a loud _"Ha! Me? Annoying? Aren't you talking about yourself?" _She tells Yuvin and he is surprisingly taken aback. _"How am I being annoying when I'm trying to help your son?" _He talks back to Hayi. _"Because I can tell that you're up to no good." _She reasons and Yuvin answers, _"How can you say that? I haven't told you about my plan yet."_

Hayi is ready to prolong this petty argument but Yuvin suddenly hisses. His wound on his elbow hurts. _"Why haven't you treated that yet?" _Hayi asks with an irritated tone. _"It's just a small cut." _Yuvin murmurs but Hayi can see that he's holding down his pain. _"Sit down." _She pushes Yuvin to sit on the counter. _"Why?" _Yuvin asks and Hayi simply says, _"I'll treat your wound." "No. I told you I'm fine-" "Sshhhhh!" _Hayi proceeds to getting the first aid kit from the storage room as Yuvin remains seated. She comes back with the kit on her hands and starts disinfecting Yuvin's wound right away.

_"How is this a small cut?!" _Hayi scolds Yuvin as she takes a good look at his wound. She carefully puts medicine on it._ "Did you fall from your scooter? Your dorm is super near. Why do even you bother riding your scooter? The next time you get a wound like this, you should treat it immediately unless you want to get an infection." _Hayi notices that Yuvin isn't saying anything, so she looks up. To her surprise, she sees him staring right at her with honey eyes. Hayi's heart skips a beat before fluttering fast.

_"Look away. Look away." _Hayi tells herself but she cannot bring herself to. Her eyes are locked on Yuvin's. Yuvin, on the other hand, feels the same. _"I need to break the eye contact," _he thinks to himself but he wasn't able to until he feels Hayi's grip on his arm getting stronger. He lets out a small _"Aww," _and tries to loosen Hayi's hold on him.

Now holding Hayi's hand, Yuvin returns his eyes on her and sees that she's still dazed. _"What is going on Hayi?" _The girl internally asks herself. _"Why can't you stop looking at him? Are you-" _As if Yuvin can read her mind, he slowly smiles and interrupts her thoughts by asking, "Are you falling in love with me right now?"

If Yuvin was a snake, Hayi would have been bitten in her place a long time ago. Although she cannot physically move, her mind and heart is very active right now. _"I think so." _She knows she answered Yuvin's question internally but why did she hear a voice say that exact line just now? _Did I say that out loud? _She panics to herself but then, she hears another voice say, _"Is that so?" _and she knows it's not Yuvin since she's looking at him right now and she didn't see his mouth move.

Finally, Yuvin and Hayi snaps back to reality and sees two overly familiar guys on the other side of the counter. Hayi and Yuvin immediately push each other away, while Wooseok and Hangyul are holding each other's hands. _"Yes. You're very annoying, Yuvin, but I think I like you." _Wooseok tells Hangyul with loving eyes. _"I feel the same, Hayi." _Hangyul replies, and Wooseok gasps. _"Yuvin..." "Hayi..." _The two say to each other.

Hayi runs to the storage room while Yuvin puts a bandage over his wound before walking through Wooseok and Hangyul to break them and out to the door.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	16. ☾⛧ Sleepless Hayi ⛧☽

For the countless time, Hayi rolls on her bed again. She doesn't even remember how long she has been awake, or if she ever fell asleep. Her mind is just overloading with everything that is happening in her life.

Firstly, she was not as productive as she hoped to be last night. With her current slow progress, the load of things she has to do will continuously pile up. And if she doesn't get a grip, her whole timeline would be a mess. Just thinking about that makes Hayi have a mental breakdown.

Secondly, she has yet to include her new commission work in her schedule. Fortunately, her client knows exactly what he wants and the important parts were already thoroughly discussed in the meeting. At least, she only needs her imagination to work its magic so she can start working as soon as possible.

Lastly, the most unfortunate among all the things she has to think about is none other than Song Yuvin. In all fairness, Hayi already survived the last six months working with him, and she is ready to tolerate him a little bit more until she graduates. However, things just had to be so complicated. Only if the bike incident never happened, she would have one less thing to worry about.

She can only ask herself why her feelings are playing with her right now. Was it her, or was it Yuvin's fault? Logically speaking, it is the latter because she just lost her precious sleep, thinking about the eventful days she spent with him. That is, eventful, in a negative way. She doesn't want to admit that it is stirring her heart in a direction she doesn't want to go to.

7:40 AM. It shows on her clock when she rolls to the other side of her bed. _"My 8:00 class!" _She exclaimed as she jumps out of her bed to get ready in a flash. As a punctual person, it will be a humiliation for her if she comes in late for class. It was not long before she successfully puts on a random pair of clothing to make herself look decent.

_"This is not me,"_ Hayi says to herself as she fixes her hair in front of the mirror. All she can do now is to move quickly, and blame Yuvin for ruining her sleep. Most especially, she blames him for knocking on her heart unexpectedly.

_"Get a grip, Go Hayi!" _She scolds herself before she heads out to the door, hoping she'll make it on time for her class.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	17. ☾⛧ In Jinhyuk we trust ⛧☽

7:58. It was just two minutes left before Hayi opened the back door of her classroom. She tries to move discreetly to the nearest vacant seat, as she notices the lights are unusually switched off. _"Finally_,_" _Hayi breathes out heavily once she finally settled down. Then she hurriedly takes out her notebook and began writing the date today.

_"Please kindly lock the doors so no latecomers can come in." _The professor said once he finished setting up the TV. One tall and obedient student stood up to lock both doors. Hayi finds it weird but chooses to ignore it since she's just grateful that she made it on time.

As Hayi was busy filling up her notebook, the movie began with the introduction clip of Columbia Pictures. Hayi got startled with the surround audio system. "_Since when did my Color Theory class ever play a movie?" _She whispered to herself.

_"Psst!" _Hayi hears her seatmate, so she turns and sees, _"Jinhyuk?" _She squints her eyes as she tries to make out his face in the dark. "_The one and only," _he responds.

_"What are you doing here?" _She asks as silent as she could. As far as Hayi can remember, she doesn't share any class with Jinhyuk since he's a film major. Or could it be- _"Well, this is my class," _he curiously says as Hayi's eyes go wide. _"Shouldn't you be in the art department upstairs?"_

Hayi can't believe what just happened. Did she seriously step out on the wrong floor? All Hayi can remember when she was in the crowded elevator was fixing her calendar on her phone, then she followed everyone as they went out on- _"I'm on the wrong floor." _Now, everything is finally sinking in for Hayi.

_"That explains the lights and the movie," _Hayi says to herself as she massages her throbbing head, knowing that it's too late to go to her 'real' class now. She really has a love and hate relationship with the similar design and layout of each floor.

With no other choice, Hayi stayed in the room. The seatmates turn their attention back to the movie as Ewan McGregor starts his monologue. _"Might as well watch the movie while I'm here," _Hayi thought to herself as she tries to relax on her seat.

A few moments later, Jinhyuk scoots his chair closer to Hayi and says, "_You look tired." _That's right, Hayi obviously doesn't look like her normal self. _"I just... I had trouble sleeping last night."_ She simply summarizes, not wanting to share anything.

Just when Hayi thought Jinhyuk went back to watch the movie, he suddenly talked. _"I heard what happened yesterday with Y U V I N," _he said while spelling out his friend's name at the end. As if she was hypersensitive to that name, Hayi snapped her gaze to look at Jinhyuk.

_"How did you know?" _Hayi panics at how fast the news has spread in less than a day. _"In our brotherhood, there is no secret left untold." _Jinhyuk is right, and Hayi has a sure guess who spilled the tea. Her co-worker, Kim Wooseok, is someone who talks to anyone whether or not they listen or reply. He is the most likeliest to intentionally tell them.

Hayi can already sense that a long wave of teasing would soon follow. _"If you look at Yuvin from a different perspective, he's not so bad." _Jinhyuk thoughtfully says instead which caught Hayi off guard. _"He's passionate about whatever he likes." _That is something Hayi already knows after working with Yuvin for months. She believes it could be both his advantage and disadvantage.

_"Did you know Yuvin has two dogs even though he is allergic to them?" _Jinhyuk continued his Yuvin facts list. _"His parents were against it, yet he magically persuaded them to get him not one but two dogs. It's amazing," _Hayi nods her head in agreement. Surely, Yuvin is very passionate with anything he sets his mind to.

_"He really works hard, but he definitely knows how to unwind and have fun." _There's a part in Hayi's mind that flashes a warning signal to stop listening, but here she is, slowly getting immerse to Jinhyuk's description of the Yuvin he has known for years.

_"Behind his ridiculous antics, it's still possible for him to be serious." _Jinhyuk states but then gave a lighthearted laugh before he continued,_ "Although it might be hard to believe, he's actually a very good observant." _It's Hayi first time to hear that, and she is surprised. _"Yuvin notices and remembers even the smallest thing."_

Come to think of it, Hayi knows very little about Yuvin. It's not that she didn't have any opportunities, but instead, she just chooses to ignore him most of the time. Now that she is hearing all about him, maybe he is not that annoying after all. "_But that doesn't mean I like him." _Hayi thought to herself.

_"He can also sing very well!" _Jinhyuk silently exclaimed to put the cherry on top. Hayi has never heard Yuvin sing so that is quite surprising to her. But, as he is a theater major, it might actually be true.

Jinhyuk continues without waiting for her to respond, _"Try not to be so annoyed with Yuvin." _For Hayi, that is easier said than done. Everything that Yuvin does gets on her nerves, and it will be impossible not to be annoyed with him. So when Hayi finally responds, _"No promises," _Jinhyuk just smiled at her and returned to watch the almost forgotten movie that's playing in front of them.

Hayi doesn't know what to feel with all these "good" things she just heard about Yuvin. Where does she put herself amid her chaotic emotion? The answer is she doesn't know. With a defeated sigh, she also starts paying attention to the movie.

Ed Bloom, the main character of the story, finds himself in the circus. He enjoys the festive surrounding and the hilarious show. Then the unexpected happened when his world stop like it's literally frozen. _"They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true." _He said as he makes his way to the woman that caught her attention.

A normal person who watches that scene will be awed by that line and soon forget it, but to Hayi that lingers on and on. _"Is this what I think it is?" She _questions herself. _"Nope, that's impossible." _Hayi denies for the hundred times as she tries to focus for the rest of the "wrong" class she is in. 

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	18. ☾⛧ Hayi, please stop thinking about Yuvin! ⛧☽

_"They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true." _That one line has been replaying in Hayi's mind even long after the class is done, and to her annoyance, Yuvin's face as she saw from up close yesterday at the convenience store is the only thing she can see right now. _"No no no no." _She aggressively shakes her head to remove those thoughts from her mind. She halts her walk and tries to compose herself. _"Hayi, you have a thesis and a commission work to focus on. Stop thinking about other things." _She breathes in and out before proceeding to the arts room.

Hayi opens the door to the arts room and finds no one inside which makes her really happy. The faint sunlight coming through the windows covered by long white blinds and the comfortable coldness of the room always makes her feel at peace, and she doesn't want to share it with anyone especially right now.

She sits at a table by the corner and takes out the envelope full of Dongwook's references to review them. _"Surrealism is basically a combination of realism and imagination, so the painting is basically a surrealist painting." _She says to herself before pulling out her notebook to review her notes. _"Growing old with her. Overcoming all challenges together. Love amidst all the chaos.... Love amidst all the chaos..." _Hayi repeats the last phrase remembering what Dongwook told her when she asked, _"If it's okay with you, may I ask what kind of challenges you may be facing as a couple?" _He smiles before answering, _"Although we're both in the arts, we have very different lives. Our personalities are totally opposites too. While I like calm settings, she was energetic and fun loving. So, we usually have different opinions on things. Not to mention, she's much younger than me. But we try to make it work. We make it work." _Hayi can only sigh at that testament of love. Stories like this always melts her heart.

She turns the page of her notebook and reads her notes which says, _"Two people standing, like a wedding portrait. Facing each other, holding each other's hands..." _She pauses. There it is again. The long lashes, twinkling eyes, and that soft smile... Hayi gives up. _"I should be thinking about Sir Dongwook and Ms. Hana, but why do I see his face?!" _Hayi pulls her hair and kicks her feet in the air but then she suddenly remembers she doesn't even know what Hana looks like yet.

She opens her phone and goes to Instagram to check Hana's profile. Like how she reacted upon seeing Dongwook's face in person, she gasps at Hana's beauty. She scrolls through her profile and sees her paintings as well. _"She's pretty and talented. They really match each other." _Hayi can only admire Hana. _"She's totally the kind of person I want to be." _She tells herself before jolting. _"Okay! Let's draw." _She says after getting a rush of inspiration from seeing Hana's works.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	19. ☾⛧ Mayday! Mayday! Kim Wooseok is down! ⛧☽

Once an artist gets in the zone, it's hard to break out of it. Wooseok is staring at Hayi, feeling both amazed and irritated that she hasn't taken her eyes off her sketchbook from the moment she saw her inside the store. Even when she is working at the counter and is assisting the customers, it's as if her gaze is still looking at her sketchbook. She looks like a zombie obsessed with her sketchbook, Wooseok thinks.

_"Tsk. When will you stop drawing?" _Wooseok snaps at Hayi. _"Are you doing this on purpose because you know I will tease you about Yuvin?" _But Hayi simply ignores him. _"Were they really looking at each other?" _A soft voice suddenly speaks. Of course, Eunsang is at the store again. _"I told you. They look like they were even about to k-" _Wooseok wasn't able to finish his sentence because Hayi hit his head with her sketchbook. _"Stop gossipping about me." _She tells the two before going back to drawing. _"Hayi noona, do you like Yuvin hyung?" _Eunsang smilingly asks.

Although Hayi adores the boy, she teases him back by asking, _"Eunsang-ah, do you like Junho?" _which flusters Eunsang and surprises Wooseok _"Oh... so you like him." _Wooseok says to Eunsang._ "I thought it was the putti guy." _He comments. Eunsang didn't understand him and so he asks, _"Purri?" "Putti." "Puddi?" "Putti!" _Wooseok stresses the last syllable so Eunsang could understand but he just couldn't catch the pronunciation. Eunsang goes closer to Wooseok to say, _"Priki?"_ which made the older boy's blood boil. Fortunately, Hayi saves Eunsang from Wooseok. _"Pu-tti." _She carefully tells Eunsang and he gets it. _"Ahh... putti." _Eunsang nods while Wooseok takes a long exhale.

_"By the way, aren't you going home yet? It's already 7:50." _Hayi asks Eunsang. _"I don't think he's coming today." _Wooseok carefully adds. Eunsang's face goes down and Hayi panics. _"I didn't mean to make you sad." _She explains and he replies, _"I know." _Hayi aches for the boy. _"Go home once our shift is done. Okay?" _She tells him and Eunsang nods with a smile.

_"How about soju later?" _A voice from a distance asks. Hayi jolts because she knows whose voice it is. _"You know I'm not that good at drinking soju." _Another familiar voice answered. Yuvin and Hangyul are on their way to the store and Hayi confirms it as she looks at Wooseok grinning at her. She tries to run to the storage but Wooseok blocks her way. _"Where are you going?" _The boy asks while preventing Hayi to run. _"Get out of the way Kim Wooseok!" _Hayi tries her hardest to push him away but the boy sure is strong and persistent. She turns back to Eunsang and shouts, _"Please stop them!" _Eunsang quickly nods and goes out of the store to block Yuvin and Hangyul. 

_"Oh! Eunsang? Why are you still here?" _Yuvin asks the boy. As everything was so sudden, Eunsang stutters to say a reason. _"Uhh... I just... I didn't want to go home yet. But I will. I will go home now. Haha." _He manages to blurt out an excuse. _"Okay." _Yuvin nods and takes a step forward but Eunsang stops him. _"You study theater arts, right?" _He asks Yuvin. _"Yeah, why?" _Yuvin curiously says and Eunsang manages to ask another question. _"Do you also learn how to dance? I'm interested in learning." _He says, and Yuvin points to Hangyul. _"He's a dance major." "But I'm kinda busy so I can't teach you now." _Hangyul responds. _"Yeah, he can't even come to work on time." _Yuvin laughs. The two unconsciously takes a step forward but Eunsang blocks them again. _"What is it Eunsang? I'll be late again for work." _Hangyul says. _"You can talk about dance tomorrow. Have you eaten dinner yet?" _Yuvin adds while leading Eunsang back to the store. Eunsang can only hope that Hayi is successful in running away from Wooseok.

To his relief, Eunsang doesn't see Hayi inside the store anymore, only a tired Wooseok sitting on the floor with messed up hair and clothes. _"Ya, what happened?"_ A laughing Hangyul asks. _"Did a typhoon come in here?"_ He continues and Wooseok can only say, _"Shut up." _to him. Yuvin goes to the counter and sees sketchbook. _"Where is Hayi?"_ He asks. Still breathless, Wooseok answers, _"She already left."_

Yuvin takes a look at the open sketchbook and sees a drawing of two people looking at each other, holding hands. Thinking that it's him and Hayi, Yuvin smiles.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	20. ☾⛧ Kim Wooseok's sweet revenge ⛧☽

_"Yuvin brings nothing but headaches,"_ Hayi complains to herself as she tidies her work table. She doesn't have any classes today, so she has a lot of free time to focus on important things.

Her morning was supposed to be for two things only, thesis and commission work. She shouldn't have any room to think about Yuvin. However, here she is, panicking about her shift with him later. No matter how hard she ignores it, she's just not ready to face him yet.

So ever since Hayi woke up, she's been contemplating what excuse she can use to avoid going to work today. One solution she came up with is to call-in-sick. _"But that would be so irresponsible..._" Hayi said, feeling guilty for what she thought of doing. Sometimes, being so disciplined has its disadvantages as well.

Hayi annoyingly grabs her bag and decides to worry about Yuvin later. As she was taking out her art supplies to start her commission work, she notices that her sketchbook is missing. _"Where is it?" _She frantically said as she tries to recall when she last used it.

All of a sudden, she remembers how she rushed to get away from the store yesterday. She realizes must have left it there. Hayi closes her eyes in irritation. _"Why am I so out of it recently?" _She says as she grabs her phone to send a message to Wooseok.

_"It's in the hands of your prince charming,"_ with that unnecessary comment, Hayi is itching to obliviate everyone who knew what happened with Yuvin. Most especially, Kim Wooseok, who's liable for spreading the news like wildfire. If this is just a bad dream, then Hayi desperately wants to wake up as soon as possible. Everything is just going downhill ever since the bike incident.

On the other hand, now that she has a reason to go to work, she is quite relieved that she doesn't have to skip work anymore. She just can't take the guilt of it. However, she has to work with Yuvin, and that bothers her so much. "_When will all of this end?" _Hayi says as she knocks her head on the table again and again.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	21. ☾⛧ Should I stay or should I go?⛧☽

3:58 PM. Hayi is only a few steps away from the store but she can't bring herself to move. She knows she has to go to work eventually but her heart just won't calm down. _"I don't even feel this nervous at school," _says the strong willed student Hayi. She really hates it when she's not in control of things, so her newly found feelings sure are making a chaos within her.

She is so deep in her thoughts when a hand suddenly pokes her from behind. She held her screams and turns to see a pair of bright eyes looking curiously at her. His dimples slowly sinks in as he smiles at the obviously surprised Hayi. _"What are you doing standing here?"_ Byungchan asks her. _"Um... just... enjoying the air here..." _She stutters to say an answer. _"You're gonna be late though!"_ Byungchan pouts. Before Hayi can say a random excuse to stall time, Byungchan links arms with her and drags her to the store like an overjoyed (and oversized) bunny.

Hayi's nervousness is replaced by confusion when she sees the store filled with so many people. Wooseok and Hangyul is still in there along with Kookheon, Jinhyuk, Seungwoo, and Seungyoun. _"Why is it so crowded here?" _She asks and no one was able to answer as Yuvin swiftly runs to her and drags her by the counter. _"You stay here,"_ he instructs to Hayi, while he pushes Byungchan to sit with the rest of the boys. Hayi starts to think that she was nervous for no reason at all as Yuvin's mind is obviously occupied with something else.

_"We're almost complete, guys!" _Yuvin announces before the chimes of the convenience store ring once again. _"Yohan?!" _They all shout in unison. _"You're also here?!" _Seungwoo asks. Hayi is surprised to see him as well. Yohan is also part of the X-Men but is rarely seen with the group because he's usually busy with his taekwondo training. _"Yuvin begged me to come."_ He simply answers and Yuvin high-fives him. _"Yeah, that's right. Thank you bro. Now, sit here."_ Yuvin pushes Yohan to sit in the last chair facing the window, nearest to the door. The boys high-five Yohan who they haven't seen for weeks as well.

_"Okay, okay."_ Yuvin calls their attention. _"Let's settle down, everyone." _He says as he scans the whole store. _"Mind saying why we need to be here and why are we being cramped in the corner?_" Wooseok asks. Weird to everyone, Yuvin placed the boys to take all the seats in the store but left those at Eunsang's regular table empty. Yuvin clears his throat before answering. _"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming here. I knew I could always count on you guys." _He playfully says as if he's tearing up. _"Just cut to the chase bro!" _Jinhyuk shouts from the back. _"Alright, alright."_ Yuvin straightens up. _"I asked you to come here for Hayi's bebeboy."_ He says and before he could proceed, Seungyoun exclaims, _"Who?! You?!" _Hayi blushes but she tries to act normal. Meanwhile, Yuvin is unfazed as he immediately corrects Seungyoun, _"Eunsang! We're here for Eunsang!" "The banana milk boy?" _Kookheon asks. _"Why? Did something happen to him?" _Jinhyuk's brotherly instincts were awaken. _"Nah, he's fine but he needs help." _Yuvin clarifies.

_"We're doing the Operation Help Eunsang talk to Junho and make Junho fall in love with him!" _He cheerfully announces but everyone remained silent, trying to understand what he just said. Seungyoun breaks the silence by asking, _"Who's Junho?" _Clueless to everyone's reactions, Yuvin explains. _"Eunsang's crush. One of the three boys from Woollim Arts. They always go here." _And everyone nods their heads."_Oh right, do you have your guitar with you?" _Yuvin asks Seungyoun and he replies, _"Yeah, it's here." "Good." _Yuvin looks outside the store before continuing, _"Everyone, all you have to do is remain seated in your seats and act normal. Hang out, chat... and then, Seungyoun, I'll give you a signal." "What signal?" _Seungyoun interrupts, and Yuvin struggles to come up with something. _"Uh... just keep an eye on me. I'll give you a nod." _He says. _"And then, when I give you a signal,"_ Yuvin continues still pertaining to Seungyoun, _"Start playing the guitar. You know the song." "Yes sir!" _Seungyoun salutes and readies his guitar. _"The star of the afternoon is here."_ Hangyul announces.

"_You're finally here!"_ Yuvin exclaims to Eunsang right after he enters the store and immediately pulls him to his sit on his usual seat. Yuvin runs to the fridge as fast as he can and gets two banana milk for Eunsang. He places it on his table and says, _"Your usual order."_ Before Eunsang can ask why is he giving him banana milk, Yuvin tells him, _"I got your back today, little bro."_ and gives him a wink.

Yuvin fishes out his phone from his pocket and suddenly calls, _"Kim Kookheon!" _However, Kookheon just cluelessly stared at him. _"Say present!" _Yuvin instructs and Kookheon follows. _"Present!" _Yuvin continues,_ "Kim Wooseok!" "Present." "Kim Yohan!" "Present!" "Lee Hangyul!" "Sup." "Lee Jinhyuk!" "Here." "Cho Seungyoun!" "Cock a doodle doo~" "Han Seungwoo!" "Present." "Go Hayi!" "Present." Lee Eunsang!" "Present." _Yuvin finishes the roll call and Hayi can only sigh. "_And to think that my image of him has been very different these days... This is him. This is the real Yuvin." _Hayi thinks to herself.

_"Okay... I will repeat it again for Eunsang." _Yuvin clears his throat. _"We are doing the-" _He pauses to inhale._ "Operation Help Eunsang talk to Junho and make Junho fall in love with him!" _He exhales. Eunsang tries to reject the help, _"You don't have to-" _However, Yohan suddenly speaks. _"Someone's coming!"_ And as fast as a snap, everyone shifted their positions. "_No matter what happens, do not leave your seats." _Yuvin whispers. A high school student wearing the Woollim Arts uniform enters the store, but it wasn't Junho nor Yunseong and Hyeop. Eunsang drops his shoulder fast as so did the rest. _"That's not him?"_ Yohan asks as he felt everyone's tension disappear. _"Do you know Junho?"_ Hangyul asks. _"No." _Yohan replies and everyone slouches into their seats. _"Everyone, just relax. I'll be the lookout." _Yuvin tells everyone as he goes to guard the door.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

Eunsang usually arrives at the convenience store a few minutes after 4 PM while the Woollim boys would follow around 30 minutes after him. However, it's already 6:30 PM and any of the three Woollim boys are still out of sight. Hayi feels so bad for Eunsang. She knows he lives pretty far from the store but he still goes there everyday for Junho. _But if he doesn't come today..._

_"Our efforts would be wasted. He didn't come yesterday either." _Wooseok says as his eyes are stuck to his phone. He and Hangyul are playing a mobile game to pass time. Meanwhile, Seungyoun, Jinhyuk, and Kookheon are playing the silent 007 bang game. Seungwoo is reviewing his class syllabus, and then there is Yohan hugging his bag, trying his best not to doze off. Yuvin still has his face glued to the door, and Hayi can't take her eyes off of Eunsang who is fiddling with his phone and is trying to act like he's busy with something when in reality, he's just wondering what could be happening with Junho.

Hayi has had countless boring days at the store, but today has got to be one of the longest waits she has ever done in her life. She can tell that Eunsang was already feeling so guilty for making everyone stay for him, and that is why she suggested that they wait for Junho until 7 PM only.

_"A few more minutes... Will Junho come today? Let's wait and see." _Hayi thinks as she rests her head on the counter table.

☾⛧New Character!⛧☽ 

☆°˖✧ Kim Yohan ✧˖°☆ 

That one friend who is always missing in action but will be there when you need him the most. 

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	22. ☾⛧ Operation Help Eunsang talk to Junho and make Junho fall in love with him. Start!⛧☽

6:59 PM. The boys already got tired of playing and Yohan has already fallen asleep. Hayi has also lost her faith that Junho will still come.

_Tick._

7 PM and there's still no sight of any of the Woollim boys. _"I guess it's time to leave?" _Yuvin rhetorically asks while his face is still stuck on the glass door. _"I'm sorry for making you wait." _Eunsang softly whispers but everyone hears it. _"We can do this again next time."_ Seungwoo reassures Eunsang. _"Yeah, he usually comes here everyday anyways."_ Hangyul chimes in and Hayi follows it with, _"He must've been busy. Don't worry too much about it, okay?"_ Eunsang can only nod to every single remark.

Everyone stands up and stretches after being seated for so long. They ready themselves to leave, but Yuvin suddenly screams which wakes up Yohan. _"He's here!" _He shouts but with a lower voice this time. Everyone goes back to their seats and return to their old positions.

_"Welcome!" _Yuvin opens the door for Junho and Junho simply bows to him. Everyone except for Eunsang is staring at him which he notices but everyone were quick to turn their heads, and so he decided to just ignore them. He passes by the tables and goes to the sandwich station.

_"He's alone?" _Hayi mouths to Yuvin who is surprised as well. If they recall correctly, the Woollim boys never went to the store alone before. They sometimes come in pairs but not alone. Junho picks his regular burger snack and goes to the counter to pay for it.

Everyone waits for Junho's next move while Hayi is heating his burger in the microwave oven. As soon as Hayi hands Junho his burger, he politely bows and says, _"Thank you" _before heading straight to the door.

Yuvin panics and blocks the door with his whole body. _"Excuse me." _Junho politely says, but Yuvin refuses to move. _"Uh... you're leaving?" _He stutters to Junho and the younger boy simply nods his head. As if a bulb lit up over his head, Yuvin immediately thinks of an excuse. _"That can't be because you are our 100th customer of the day! Congratulations!" _He exclaims and everyone follows to cheer. _"Since you are our 100th customer of the day, you will get a free meal but you need to eat it at the store." _Yuvin explains. Hayi has to admit that she's impressed with Yuvin right now despite looking very flustered earlier. Yuvin is lowkey proud for immediately thinking of an excuse to make Junho stay. However, Junho is thinking of rejecting it. _"Um, I'm sorry-"_

Yuvin can tell what Junho is going to say, so he signals to Seungyoun to do a distraction. Seungyoun plays his guitar and starts the song. _"Congratulations~ Congratulations~" _Everyone follows suit in singing the song. _"Wooo! Congratulations, bro!"_ They shout to Junho and he politely bows to them to say thank you. Before he can say anything else, Yuvin pushes Junho to sit in front of Eunsang. _"Please sit here, Junho-ssi. I'll get your free meal and I'll be right back."_ Yuvin tells Junho before running to get the food, but he suddenly stops to add, _"Don't be shy! This is Eunsang!"_ as he points to the red haired boy. Eunsang bows to Junho with a restricted smile to not show how happy he is and Junho does the same.

Awkwardness is in the air as everyone remained quiet. Thankfully, Yuvin immediately comes back with a hotdog sandwich and a cup of spicy ramen. _"Thank you. I'll eat this well." _Junho tells Yuvin as he prepares himself to eat. However, Yuvin interrupts him. _"Wait. Before you eat, let me take a photo so we'd have proof that you received your reward." _Junho accepts and Yuvin takes out a polaroid camera from the counter. _"Okay," _Yuvin points the camera to Junho. _"Say cheese!"_ He says and Junho puts up a V pose before saying, _"Cheese."_ Yuvin takes a solo photo of Junho. He takes a step backward and leans his body back, the camera is still on his face. _"One more time." _He says, _"Eunsang, join the photo." _He signals to Eunsang to lean in, and asks Junho, _"You don't mind him Junho-ssi, right?"_ Eunsang looks at Junho directly for the first time tonight, and he is taken aback when Junho looks back at him. _"He looks so handsome." _Eunsang thinks to himself. He realizes this is the closest they've been to each other which makes him more nervous than ever. Junho nods to Yuvin's question which makes Eunsang break into his first smile since he went to the store today. He leans in to enter the frame and faces the camera. _"One, two, three, cheese!"_ Yuvin says, and the two replies in unison, _"Cheese."_ The first photo of Eunsang and Junho together is taken.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

A few moments after Junho started eating, sounds of chattering fills the store. Everyone is now back to normal, except for Eunsang who is sipping his banana milk as silent as possible. _"Is this it? They're not going to talk to each other."_ Hayi whispers to Yuvin who is back to the counter. _"Tsk." _Yuvin shakes his head. _"I better think of something." _He says. Suddenly, Junho coughs after sipping the spicy ramen soup. Yuvin brightens up at the unexpected situation. Eunsang looks back to Hayi and Yuvin to ask for help, and Yuvin cues him to give one of his banana milk to Junho. He frantically nods and opens the milk before giving it to Junho. _"Drink this."_ He softly says and Junho accepts it. _"Thank you" _He says to Eunsang, and the red haired boy shyly answers,_"Welcome."_

Yuvin is satisfied with what he's seeing. _"This is going great so far." _He whispers to Hayi who, just like everyone else in the room, is immersed in watching the two. Eunsang takes a glance at Yuvin who gives him a reassuring nod to continue the conversation. Eunsang returns his gaze to Junho and takes a deep breath before saying, _"That ramen is really spicy but it's really delicious. I ate two last night." _Eunsang expects Junho to simply say, _"I see" _or _"Is that so?" _and continue eating but to his surprise, Junho asks, _"Is it okay to eat two ramen at once?" _giving Eunsang more opportunity to prolong the conversation. _"Well, no, but I like it so..."_ Eunsang is not satisfied with his answer as it could end their conversation right there and then but Junho suddenly laughs. The heavily invested viewers are surprised at Junho's reaction. _"I feel the same with burgers." _Junho says with his eyes shaped like a crescent moon. _"Oof. This is too wholesome for my heart." _Kookheon whispers to himself.

Yuvin takes his stare off from the two high school boys and waves to Seungyoun as subtle as possible. Seungyoun sees him and recognizes it as his sign to play his guitar. He strums the guitar. _"Neoreul manna~" _He starts singing Paul Kim's Me After You. His soft voice slowly fills the store which turns the atmosphere to feel romantic. One by one, everyone starts to sing along with Seungyoun as Junho and Eunsang continue with their conversation.

Enjoying the atmosphere, Jinhyuk takes his digital camera out and records themselves having fun. It's moments like this, as simple as it can be, that helps Jinhyuk forget about his worries for the future and simply enjoy his college life.

Both satisfied with the Operation Help Eunsang talk to Junho and make Junho fall in love with him, Yuvin turns to Hayi and Hayi turns to Yuvin before breaking into big smiles. Their tiny moment at the counter is captured by Jinhyuk at the camera.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	23. ☾⛧ Did Hayi catch the love bug? ⛧☽

Out all the things she foresees to happen in her last semester, Yuvin is the only one Hayi didn't see coming. As a well-prepared person, this is a total nightmare for her. Hayi sees her world through her organized calendar, and here's Yuvin, magically writing his name into her daily schedule. She never asked for any of these, just like those irritating ads that pop up while you're just trying to watch your favorite video. It's bothersome, but there are times when it gets entertaining.

_"I was so scared Junho won't come!" _Yuvin dramatically says while holding both his hands on top of his heart. For the past five minutes, he has been talking non-stop, and Hayi should naturally be annoyed by now. But she isn't. Hayi hates to admit it, but Yuvin might just actually be that kind of ad; annoying at first, but you'll learn to tolerate without skipping.

It may just be because of the successful plan Yuvin pulled earlier, or because Hayi is simply in a good mood.

Today turned out to be the opposite of what Hayi had expected. She is both relieved and grateful that Yuvin was too occupied that the awkward scenarios she imagined last night never happened. Instead, laughter and music filled the store throughout her shift. It was far too noisy than what she could tolerate, but today she chooses to let loose.

For the last few months, Hayi devoted the majority of her time doing her thesis. She absolutely had no time to relax for there is no room for mistakes. To her, sacrificing time is a fair trade to achieve results to be the best she could possibly be.

Today, she was able to feel alive again. To laugh and finally unwind without worrying about the things she needs to do. It is a nice change from her usual routine, and it's tempting Hayi for more freedom.

Maybe that is why she is now walking back home with the mastermind of today's event. Hayi should be feeling anxious that she is now alone with Yuvin. But surprisingly, she doesn't feel awkward.

There is peace within herself that unexpectedly calms her. It's unusual, especially coming from such a chaotic state of mind just earlier this morning, but it feels warm and nice.

_"I'm glad it all worked out!" _Yuvin finally concludes his winning speech, halfway through their walk back to Hayi's dorm. Hayi nods and smiles, still high with happiness.

They are taking the same road back home, yet it feels different. Last time, Hayi was running away, and Yuvin was chasing her. Now, they are walking side by side. No one's in a rush. For once, they're going at the same pace.

Hayi looks at Yuvin and sees the light in a softer glow as he looks at the star-filled sky. Even with the shadows covering his face, he looks so calm. To Hayi, this is like an escape to reality. An alleyway from the chaos within her. Just by watching him, she too feels calm. In this serenity, a smile is threatening to make way on her face.

_"I think I did a great job today," _Yuvin grinningly says, giving his full attention to Hayi. Hayi feels self-conscious, knowing that he caught her staring, so she turns her head to avoid his stare. However, he keeps his eyes on Hayi, still grinning, as if he is waiting for her to praise him. "_Don't you think so?" _Yuvin pushes on. Hayi sees through his intention and turns to look at him.

She regrets her decision right away because he looks so handsome under the moonlight. Then, everything starts moving slowly. It's like the world made it better for Hayi to appreciate his hair softly bouncing as he walks, his eyes that are shining with happiness, and his lips painted with his brightest smile. At this moment, to Hayi, Yuvin is perfect.

_"Perfect?" _Yuvin says as he grins.With wide eyes, Hayi realizes she just said that out loud. _"That's the best praise I received from you." _Yuvin is now on cloud nine and begins to skip his step. _"Is this the same person I thought was handsome?" _Hayi says to herself as she rolls her eyes but her lips still curls up.

As they continue to walk, she looks ahead of her, just in case any bicycle will appear again. For good measure, she made sure there were no cars before they cross the road. She can't afford any more incidents to happen because once is more than enough. It's already a miracle that she isn't as confused and disturbed with her feelings as she used to be.

_"Thank you,"_ Yuvin shyly says just a few minutes before they arrive at her dorm. Hayi turns confusingly and asks, "_For what?" _While pretending to kick a pebble, he responds, _"For appreciating what I did."_

That caught Hayi off guard, and she doesn't know how to respond. Luckily, they finally reached her dormitory, so Hayi answers a quick _"Sure" _and hurriedly tries to leave.

_"You're forgetting something." _Hayi stops before she goes any further when she heard Yuvin's voice. She turns around and sees him waving her precious sketchbook. With a teasing smile, Yuvin walks towards her to give it. _"Bye, Hayi."_ That sounds so dreamy and she feels like her inside melts. As Hayi feels bursting inside, Yuvin turns around, ready to head home. Yuvin walks a little bit further and Hayi just watches his back.

_Think about that boy. Tell me how he makes you feel._

_"He makes me feel weird things." _Hayi says.

_Let your mind trace over his tired shoulders._

"_Yuvin_." Hayi softly calls out, and he turns immediately as he gives her that picture-perfect smile.

_Allow your thoughts to linger on that beautiful smile. Take a deep breath and try to push those dark feelings aside._

Hayi unknowingly did.

_For once let go of the reins you've wrapped so tightly around your heart._

_"But this isn't part of the plan. My plan."_

_I know you are scared. Who could blame you? Love is a hurricane wrapped inside a chrysalis._

_"Is love really as chaotic as a hurricane?"_ This whirlwind of emotion sure is nothing she has felt before. Yet, it feels soothing. It feels welcoming. It's tempting for her to move one step forward to the unknown.

_And you are a girl walking into the storm._

And so Hayi did. She walks towards Yuvin as the storm within her slowly calms down. _"Now, what?" _Hayi says to herself as she reaches Yuvin who is now waiting for her to say something. _"Why did I even call him again?" _Hayi is now having a mental breakdown, trying to come up with something to say.

_"Can I have your number?" _She shyly asked, knowing that this will change a lot of things. Yuvin immediately brightens up and stretches his hands toward Hayi, waiting to punch in his number on her phone. _"You know, just in case, this thing happens again." _Hayi clears her throat before slowly giving her phone to Yuvin. Their hands lightly touch.

Yuvin, happy as a clam, calls his phone after he saved his number. _"Now, I have your number." _Yuvin hands her phone back while Hayi is thinking if she did the right thing. _"Goodnight, Hayi." _Yuvin said without waiting for her response then he makes a beeline down the road while leaping in the end.

Hayi can only laugh a little before heads to her room. So many things happened today, but the highlight would be her new strategy. Today, as she was able to unwind, she realizes that her strange feelings will not go away anytime soon. Hayi is not ready for any of these new changes, but one thing is for sure. She needs to stop running away and face her feelings head-on even though she's not sure where this will go.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beautiful series of quotes used in this chapter is by Lang Leav's work named "The butterfly effect."


	24. ☾⛧Mirror mirror on the wall is Prince Yuvin the fairest of them all?⛧☽

Just like any other night, Hayi washes her face. Usually, she skips all the glitter and glamor that most girls do and heads to bed. But tonight, she's got a little bit of time, so she does the whole nine yards of her rare skincare routine.

Cleansing, Clay Mask, Toning, Serum, Eye moisturizer, Face moisturizer, A gentle face massage, and a finishing touch of a good lip balm. As Hayi feels and sees her skin glowing, she pats her back for a job well done. "That's sooo refreshing." She said before jumping on her bed where she sees her phone flashing with a message notification.

_"Prince Yuvin?" _Hayi reads the sender's name. _"He's seriously roleplaying characters anywhere." _She scoffs lightly, but still, the tips of her lips are slowly curling up. What Hayi does next causes her to laugh out loud. She adds a picture on his contact, a frog with a crown on its head. _"Now, that," _Hayi happily saves her work of art and continue_s, "looks perfect." _As she is still in a happy mood, she decides to be cheeky and sends a reply to Yuvin. 

Hayi knew Yuvin is going to spam her with messages once they have each other's numbers, but she doesn't mind it as much as she thought. She closes her messaging app and opens Instagram. Hayi goes through her notifications, and of course, she sees a flood of comments from Yuvin. For the matter of following, Hayi taps on his username and goes to his profile. _"Let's see if he is worth following." _She said as she examines Yuvin's pictures.

So far, all she can see are random pictures of himself and his friends. Unlike Hayi's aesthetic profile, his profile is a perfect description of who he is as a person. A carefree and happy-go-lucky guy who knows how to have fun even in the simplest thing.

Hayi then tries to scroll further through his page to check if there are any interesting posts. Such as pictures that she can use to blackmail him in the future if he messes with her. When it was almost at the bottom, she sees a totally different post. Hayi feels intrigued and taps the photo to see it better.

The picture was probably a stolen shot taken from a distance. With the paintbrush that she is holding, she looks like a young artist. _"Who is she?" _Hayi questions before she taps the picture to see who was tagged. _artisthanachoi is_ what she sees and Hayi gaps at the sudden realization that this is the same Hana that is engaged to Sejin's uncle; the one she is doing her commission work for.

As if it's not enough, she also sees Hana's comment. _"I thought you'll keep on ignoring me! I'll miss u Yuvin," _it says and Hayi is trying to connect the dots. _"How did they know each other?" _A very curious Hayi sits up from her bed. She looks up at her clock and sees that it's way too early for Sejin's bedtime so she decides to ask him about it.

Hayi closes her messaging app to get away from the sudden interrogation. She has known Sejin for a long time now, and their friendship has been through a lot. She trusts him with all of her heart, but she's contemplating if she is ready to admit this growing feeling inside of her. Is it really what she thinks it is?

Hayi feels her phone vibrates, knowing that Sejin will not let this matter go. _"Stop running away and face it head-on," _she remembers her own words. After taking a deep breath, she opens her phone and quickly sends her reason to Sejin before swiftly closing her phone for she's unsure about Sejin's response

A reply came just milliseconds after that which startles Hayi. She eventually opens her phone again and sees a notification from Yuvin. Hayi pales in horrification that due to her rushed action, she sent the message wrongly! A pale-looking Hayi imagines that Yuvin would now have a clue that she likes him. _"This is a complete nightmare." _Hayi internally screams but catches herself before she completely loses it. She ignores Sejin's constant message notifications, and sends a short explanation to Yuvin. Hayi then turns her phone into silent mode and falls back to her bed, hoping that she can still sleep tonight. 

As Hayi hardly drifts to dreamland, Yuvin, on the other hand, is pacing back and forth in his room. _"Does she like that Dongwook guy!?" _Yuvin frustratingly says as he faces the mirror. _"I'm not as handsome as him but I'm funny..." _He complains, "manly _and kind!"_ Yuvin wonders if Hayi seriously likes Dongwook, and if yes, then it will surely hunt him for the rest of his life.

Logically speaking, no one is going to sleep well tonight. Not Sejin who is still spamming Hayi's phone with messages. Not Hayi who is pretending that nothing happened. And certainly, not Yuvin who is still thinking of reasons why Hayi should like him.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	25. ☾⛧Yuvin and Hayi's complicated situation ft. Kookheon and Seungyoun ⛧☽

Yuvin barely got any sleep last night after dozing off against his will, but he still has more than enough energy to pace back and forth inside the convenience store. Up until now, he is still curious about Hayi's wrong sent text. _"Ugh, this is stressing me out."_ He says as he scratches his head. _"Who does she like? I feel like it could be me," _He firmly says, but he continues,_ "but I can't be so sure... Lee Dongwook... was that really a blind date?" _He reflects on that thought for a while.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly gasped upon a realization. _"Sejin set them up on a blind date and asked her about her opinion on that Dongwook dude. She thinks she likes him but instead of sending it to Sejin, she sent it to me..." _He closes his eyes to take a deep breath before screaming a voiceless _"Noooooooooo!"_

Yuvin doesn't know what to feel. Yeah, Hayi did look pretty to him from the very moment he saw her when he applied at the store, but he didn't know that he'll start to like her this much. He had fun annoying her because he found her reactions funny, but now, he uses it as an excuse to have an interaction with her.

He never thought that his crush on her will keep on growing day by day. He also never expected Hayi to like him back. However, considering the recent events, Yuvin can't help but hope that he has a chance on her.

Of course, Yuvin can't be the only one feeling restless and anxious over last night's wrong sent message. Just when Hayi thought she doesn't have to worry every time she'll go to her shift with Yuvin, here she is again; having a hard time lifting her feet to take a few steps into the store. She's had several slip ups with Yuvin recently that she can't help but to think that last night's text was basically a confession, a nail on the coffin. _"There's no way he still doesn't know that I like him." _She scratches her hair in embarrassment.

With only 3 minutes left before her shift, Hayi tries to collect herself. She takes a deep breath before exhaling all her worries. _"Come on, Hayi. So what if he knows you like him? Just act normal." _She tells herself before finally walking into the store.

As soon as he hears the door chimes ring and sees Hayi walk in, the frantic Yuvin immediately leans onto the nearest shelf and starts acting cool. Meanwhile, Hayi tries to avoid his gaze like she usually does back when she still found him annoying and goes straight to the storage room. After changing to her uniform, Hayi does the inevitable of going to the counter.

Yuvin, still standing on the opposite side of the store, is itching to ask Hayi about her crush. Not able to control his curiosity, he decides to slowly approach her.

In her peripheral vision, Hayi can see Yuvin taking little steps towards her. She looks up to get a good glance at him and caught him looking at her. He swiftly diverts his gaze to the snacks on the shelves and pretends to rearrange them. Hayi subtly grabs her sketchbook which she purposely brought with her to pretend like she's busy and avoid any interaction with Yuvin. However, once Hayi has looked down, Yuvin starts to approach her again.

_"Please don't talk to me. Please don't talk to me."_ Hayi repeatedly chants in her head, but it's already too late. Yuvin is already standing in front of her. _"Hey..." _He says to call Hayi's attention. _"Hmm?" _Hayi replies without removing her eyes from her sketchbook. _"Were you texting with Sejin last night?" _Yuvin asks. So much for being subtle, he thinks. Hayi didn't expect that question but she calmly answers, _"Yeah, why?" "Oh, nothing..." _Yuvin simply says. He thinks he's basically confirmed his theory about Hayi texting Sejin her thoughts about Lee Dongwook.

He tries his best to control his facial expression, but then he sees what Hayi is drawing. It's the same drawing he saw when Hayi left her sketchbook; two people looking at each other, holding hands. It might be because the weather is a bit hot or maybe he just hates Lee Dongwook, but Yuvin suddenly got annoyed.

_"Why are you drawing that?"_ He asks with a hint of irritation in his voice. Hayi is weirded out with the change in his tone but she decides to ignore it. She's lowkey grateful that Yuvin is asking her questions unrelated to last night's accident. _"It's for Sejin's uncle. He hired me for a commission work." _She answers, and Yuvin's eyes went big. _"Sejin's uncle?"_ He asks. _"Yeah, do you know the actor Lee Dongwook?" _Hayi answers._ "He asked me to do a painting."_

Yuvin's mind went blank for a moment. _"So it wasn't a blind date?" _He thinks to himself. He can feel the corner of his lips rising but he tries to control it. _"I see..." _He says as cool as possible, although he's definitely on cloud nine right now. He turns away from Hayi so he could finally break into a smile. Again, Hayi thinks she's worried for no reason at all as Yuvin seems to be thinking about something else.

She was prepared to ask Yuvin about his Instagram post with Hana as a last resort to change the topic if he ever asks who her crush is, but thankfully, it looks like she doesn't have to. However, that doesn't mean that she's still not curious about their connection. _"Should I just ask him?" _Hayi ponders on whether to do it or not. _"It might be too personal, though..." _She thinks. Before she could decide on her next action, her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by [a familiar saxophone tune](https://youtu.be/3pUqoVllL3o).

Seungyoun enters the store while playing the _Careless Whisper_ on his saxophone. Kookheon emerges from behind and dances to it. Yuvin joins in and holds Kookheon by his shoulder. _"So I'm never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you~" _Kookheon sings while Yuvin responds, _"Oh yeah baby!"_ Hayi is about to pop a nerve due to the scene right in front of her. _"Hey, stop that. If a customer sees you, they might run away."_ She tells the trio and they immediately stop. _"Sorry, ma'am Hayi." _They say while bowing down to her.

_"What's up?" _Yuvin asks the two. _"I know you guys miss me but I told you not to visit me too often."_ He says while acting like he's shy from his friends coming over. However, Kookheon breaks the ice by saying, _"We're actually here for Hayi." _Of course, Hayi is surprised. _"Why?" _She asks. _"Are you busy? We're having problems with the backdrops you made for the play, and we really need help." _Kookheon explains. _"What kind of problems?" _Yuvin butts in. _"The freshmen mishandled the backdrops so now, they're kinda ruined." _Seungyoun calmly answers while Kookheon remains silent as he holds back his anger. _"So, they need to be recreated?" _Hayi worryingly asks. _"We actually don't know. I think it could still be saved but if not, then I guess it should be recreated."_ Kookheon sighs.

Hayi doesn't have much time to spare, but she can't just turn Kookheon away. Not to mention, she's also the one who made the backdrops. _"Please, Hayi?" _Kookheon pleads with puppy eyes. While she's trying to rearrange her schedule in her head, Yuvin enters her view. _"Don't you want to see me?" _He playfully asks. Hayi tries to hide her blushing cheeks but Yuvin catches it. She glares at him before telling Kookheon that she'll help them. _"Yey! Thank you Hayi!"_ Kookheon cheers.

While feeling a sense of victory from making Hayi flustered, Yuvin suddenly feels his pockets vibrate. He takes out his phone and sees a text message from Choi Hana.

Yuvin closes his phone and puts it back inside his pocket without typing any reply. He returns his gaze to Hayi. "_She keeps on getting prettier day by day." _He thinks to himself and smiles.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	26. ☾⛧ Love Triangle: Yuvin, Hayi, and Dongwook?!⛧☽

For a week, Hayi worked like a machine. Coffee became her new best friend as she pulled so many all-nighters. In the middle of the week, she saw Sejin who called her a _calm zombie_. That was because she's got everything under control, and she magically dodged any Yuvin related questions even though she lacks sleep to function well.

To be honest, Hayi can barely push anything related to Yuvin when she was doing her thesis. It was even harder because she sees him through the majority of her shift. She's just grateful that she managed to finish the first draft of her thesis yesterday. Although she is not satisfied yet, at least she finished earlier than the deadline.

Hayi was able to get eight hours of sleep last night, and she is feeling great. Today, she will meet up with the production team of the play since she needs to help Kookheon with the backdrop.

The theater's entrance is wide open when Hayi arrives. As she enters, the loud chattering of students welcomes her. She pauses at the middle of the theater to look around to find Kookheon. A hand shoots up, which catches Hayi's attention.

_"Hayiii!" _Kookheon beams as he makes his way to Hayi. _"I'm glad you can finally make it!" _Hayi feels bad since she's caught up with her thesis. _"I'm sorry, I just really had to focus on my thesis." _Kookheon nudges her and says, _"No worries! What's important is you're finally here!" _Hayi nods, thankful that he understands her situation.

They made their way to the backstage so Hayi can see the problem with the backdrop. Unknown to them, a pair of eyes are watching them as they walk. In a matter of minutes, a hurried footsteps followed them.

_"Here are the backdrops." _Kookheon says as he waves his fingers to present them to Hayi. She notices that as a whole, they still look pretty much the same from what she did. However, looking through an artistic point-of-view, the bottom parts are covered with random colors of paint. _"The freshmen dragged them when they were hanging it up, so the leftover paint on the floor caught the ends." _Kookheon guiltily says to Hayi as she examines the damages.

_"What is this wet white paint?" _Hayi asks when her hand touched a wet section. _"Oh, that..." _Kookheon nervously starts. _"Well... we tried to fix it by ourselves." "What kind of paint did you use?" "Zinc White." _Hayi stands up. _"That's why it's still wet."_ She takes out something in her bag then continues, _"Zinc White is mostly used for underpainting since it's too sheer to cover anything. While Titanium White is any painter's best friend because it can cover anything, even black paints." _Hayi waves her tube of Titanium White paint on her hand.

_"You're a genius!" _Someone exclaims at their back. Yuvin bounces up and down as he intentionally eavesdrops on their conversation. Kookheon and Hayi look surprised. _"Why are you here?" _Hayi questions the overjoyed boy in front of her, and he responds, _"Because you're here!"_

Kookheon can only shake his head at his best friend and slowly leaves the two alone. _"Shouldn't you be practicing?" _Yuvin shakes his head._ "I'm a very flexible actor, so I can go whenever I want to." _Hayi rolls her eyes and responds_, "Tsk, how irresponsible."_

_"Hayi?" _They both look at the owner of the voice, Hayi gaps but tries to remain calm to greet him pleasantly. _"Good Morning, Sir Dongwook!" _Yuvin bows in respect but Dongwook's mere presence irritates him.

_"It's nice to see you here. I didn't know you were also part of the production team." _Dongwook heavenly smiles to Hayi, and she can't help but to equally return a very bright smile to him. _"I'm just helping with the backdrop." _Hayi clarifies._ "That's great. I'm sure they need a talented artist like you." _Hayi blushes but thanks him for the compliment. _"Have you seen Jinhyuk?" _Dongwook asks Hayi and looks at Yuvin who looks like an upset kid who got his candy stolen._ "He asked me to help him with this play."_

_"How did you know him?"_ Yuvin breaks his silence to question the taller man. _"Jinhyuk is my acquaintance, and we have worked together for a couple of times. He's a great kid." _Yuvin scowls upon hearing Dongwook's answer. _"He is one of the actors of the play." _Hayi says to lighten the atmosphere since Yuvin refuses to give any response.

_"Oh! It's nice to meet you. I'm Lee Dongwook." _He introduces himself to Yuvin and stretches his hand, waiting for Yuvin to shake it. Yuvin remains unmoving, so Hayi nudges him and gives him a stern look to shake Dongwook's hand. _"I'mSongYuvinnicetomeetyou." _Yuvin says in one breath with a forced smile to please Hayi.

_"The pleasure's mine." _Dongwook still kindly responds, and Hayi looks at him with dreamy eyes. Yuvin sees that and panics. He blurts out a random question to divert Hayi's attention. _"Can you give me an advice... umm... sunbae-nim." _Yuvin tries to sound polite in the end.

Dongwook looks surprised with the sudden question, but he gave a lighthearted laugh. _"All I can say is enjoy your craft, nurture it, and allow yourself to grow." _Dongwook thoughtfully says to them. _"When I was young, I felt like I needed to rush and do everything at once. But now that I'm older, I realized that I should have enjoyed the process." _Hayi thinks that Dongwook is full of wisdom. She unknowingly looks at him with dreamy eyes again which made Yuvin's irritation just grew even more. _"You're still young, and there are many things you will have to go through. Just seize the moment, kid." _He then pats Yuvin on the shoulder. If Hayi can give a standing ovation, then she definitely would. On the other hand, Yuvin reached his limit and was about to say something crazy.

_"Yuvin! Get back to practice now!" _Jinhyuk shouts as he sees Yuvin backstage. Yuvin remains unmoving, and to Hayi he looks like a grumpy puppy. She wonders what has gotten into him since Dongwook gave them such marvelous advice.

Jinhyuk had to choice but to drag his friend back to the stage and gives Dongwook a wave._"Sunbae, I'll just make sure he practices then we can discuss after." _Dongwook gives him a thumbs up while Yuvin is still refusing to go. But Yuvin sees Hayi with her hand-formed in a solid fist, so he doesn't have any choice. After they successfully leave, Dongwook turns to Hayi. _"Is your friend normally like that?" _He carefully asks her. Hayi can only give an apologetic smile. _"Yes... he is kind of weird." "I see, I thought he hates me or something." _Dongwook teasingly says as they make their way out of the backstage.

Dongwook then begins a conversation while they were walking. _"I will bring Hana to the play so you can meet her." _Hayi can already imagine how exciting it is to meet a great artist, but there is a part of her that still feels intrigued about her unknown connection with Yuvin. _"I'm looking forward to meeting her." _She responds.

On the stage, Yuvin is trying to compose himself so he can join the practice with a clear mind. Unlucky for him, he sees Hayi and Dongwook walking out of the backstage. His eyes follow them as they talk to each other. Yuvin's eyes are probably shooting lasers to Dongwook that Jinhyuk felt the need to step in.

_"You have nothing to worry about because Dongwook is already engaged." _Jinhyuk puts his arm around Yuvin's shoulder as they both watch Hayi and Dongwook. Yuvin plays innocent by shaking off Jinhyuk's arm. _"What are you talking about? Why would I care about his love life? I don't even know him."_

Oblivious to Yuvin, Jinhyuk catches on his act and finds Yuvin's reaction adorable. Jinhyuk thinks that this could possibly be a good story idea, so he makes a mental note to include that to his future short film idea.

Yuvin, on the other hand, can't hold back his smile after he heard that Dongwook is engaged. Finally, he is in a great mood to continue his practice. _"Why don't you show off your acting skills while Hayi is watching, Yuvin?" _He weirdly says in the second point of view.Yuvin then proceeds to practice with an overconfident smile.

From a distance, Hayi has a good view of the stage. She is thinking about how long it will take her to fix the backdrop since the play is going to be launched soon. As she runs her eyes on the stage, she finds Yuvin passionately practicing his lines. The spotlight follows him as he walks on the stage. Hayi continues to look at him and gives a satisfied smile. Unlike his normal self, Yuvin looks cool on the stage.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	27. ☾⛧ I finally found you, my light ⛧☽

Tuesdays just always feel awfully long for Hayi. Aside from having two classes in the morning, she still has an 8 pm shift at the store that lasts until midnight. She usually stays at her dorm during her 2 hour free time before going to work, but since she had to help Kookheon with the backdrops, she doesn't have a choice but to grab a quick and light dinner before going to the store.

She's feeling a bit jumpy since she only has 20 minutes left before her shift. However, there's something about the atmosphere of theater students saying their goodbyes to each other after a long day under the starry night sky that makes her feel oddly calm. She takes a glance at each person and gets a little jealous. Unlike the theater students, the fine arts majors don't have much opportunity to bond over a project. Not to mention, her life has been nothing but mostly thesis.

Her sentimental thoughts were interrupted by a sudden realization; she left her sketchbook at the theater by the stage! Hayi gets annoyed at her self. _"Why do you keep on leaving your sketchbook?!" _She internally scolds herself. As much as she hates to go back as she's running out of time, she doesn't have any choice but to return to the theater.

She runs back inside the building and waits for the elevator. She calms down a bit after seeing there isn't much people in line. She rides the elevator and gets off at the 5th floor.

She slowly opens the doors and peeks if anyone is inside. There's no one and the lights were out except for the minimal stage lights. Hayi got scared for a moment remembering stories about theater ghosts so she closes the doors and rethinks her actions. She decides to go backstage instead since the lights would be brighter there, and if they're off, the switch is just by the door anyways.

She slowly opens the backstage door and she murmurs a _Thank God_ upon seeing the lights open. She calmly goes at the side of the stage and sees her sketchbook. She gets it and is about to leave when she hears a soft male voice singing. "_Is that... a theater ghost?"_ She whispers to herself while carefully looking around. She tries not to cry as she clutches all her things onto her chest. _"You're just scaring yourself Hayi. The door is just there. You'll be out soon-" _She suddenly pauses her conversation with herself upon recognizing the song. _"Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes... Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear~" _The voice sings. _"A ghost singing Seasons of Love?" _She blurts out. _"Well, it makes sense theater ghosts know theater songs." _She comments which helps her calm down. If there really are ghosts near her right now, Hayi would not hesitate to talk and befriend them.

She slowly walks onto the direction of the voice and hears the man cleared his throat before changing the song he is singing. Then, she sees a faint figure. _"Huh?" _She thinks he somehow looks familiar. She hides behind the giant boxes to get a better view of the man singing. His face is barely lit by the faint stage lights but Hayi has seen this face too many times over a period of 6 months not to recognize it even in poor lighting conditions.

_ ["The song the man is singing."](https://youtu.be/RlKxnpmcz3Y) _

Hayi likes Yuvin; she already accepted that fact a long time ago. However, upon hearing Yuvin sing for the first time today, it's like she's falling in love with him all over again._ "Why have I never heard him sing before?" _She wonders as she watches him with mesmerized eyes and ears.

_"The two of us are alone in this darkness, and your voice feels like the warm embrace that I've been longing for my whole life... I finally found you, my light."_

Suddenly, she remembers the quote from the movie she saw at Jinhyuk's class._ "They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true." _She smiles as she finally understands it.

Although Hayi would like to continue listening to Yuvin's singing, she remembers she has to go to work. She looks at her wristwatch and sees it say 7:54 PM. She doesn't have much time left to eat a proper dinner before starting her shift, but Hayi doesn't mind it anymore. Having heard Yuvin's voice and feeling all the positive emotions inside her are enough to make her feel full for tonight.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	28. ☾⛧ It's Showtime ⛧☽

Today marks a new milestone for the University as the play finally launches after everyone's hard work for the past few weeks. It has actually been a tradition for the school to do this kind of event, but this year is the biggest one yet. It has been the talk of the town ever since the announcement that all the art departments agreed to participate on it.

A few days before the play was set to start, the production team released a behind-the-scenes clip of the cast's practice. It was no surprise that their cover of _'Seasons of Love'_ went viral due to the overwhelming support of the student body towards the upcoming play.

The entrance of the theater is filled with special guests and tons of students who are looking forward to watch the first show. With no delay, the doors opened sharply on time to let the excited audience come in. The ushers lead the people to their seats. While the production team is doing last-minute checks on the equipments. Overall, everyone is almost ready for the show to begin.

On the other hand, the backstage is filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness since it's the first show. The whole team is trying to work within the set timetable. Today is the day they will showcase what they have been working hard for, so there is no room for any mistakes. The pressure is high but Jinhyuk made sure to reassure the team in their final huddle. _"Let's have fun and don't let the nerves get you." _They all did their team cheer to lift each other's spirits.

_4 minutes till places._

Yuvin looks into the mirror in front of him and chants, _"Breathe in. Breathe out." _Like his usual pre-show routine, he tries to internalize his character and calm his nerves at the same time. Yuvin has been a part of many plays before, and this routine helped him be a better actor. However, today is a bigger crowd than usual, so he's a little bit scared. _"You've got this," _Yuvin consoles himself.

_"Knock Knock. Yo! Let me do some last-minute check on your makeup."_ make-up guruKookheon invites himself into Yuvin's room. _"Okay, you still look decent!" _He finishes with a wink to tease his best friend. _"I always look decent!" _Yuvin complains to his friend. _"That's because you are i n l o v e."_ Kookheon spells out the words in the end while blinking his eyes far too many times. Yuvin blushes, but as he look at Kookheon face, he feels weirded out.

_2 minute till places! Standby everyone._

_"I guess that's your call! Break a leg!" _Kookheon pushes Yuvin out of the dressing room and leads him to the side of the stage. Yuvin feels the adrenaline rising inside him as he takes a peek of the packed theater. He feels satisfied that a lot of people came to watch them perform. His eyes then drift to the other side of the stage, and there stood Hayi beside a grinning Kookheon.

Hayi meets Yuvin's eyes, and she feels a sense of pride knowing that Yuvin will definitely shine tonight. She gives him a bright smile and mouths, _"Good luck!" _And that is all Yuvin needs. He will make Hayi proud.

_"Yuvin, you're on."_ the stage manager whispers, and Yuvin nods as he takes careful steps since the stage is completely dark. Yuvin reaches the center stage, closes his eyes, and mentally counts. _"1 2 3,"_ a single spotlight hits his lone figure. When he opens his eyes, he changes to a whole new persona. _"The heart may freeze, or it can burn."_ He begins as his eyes slowly drift from the left part of the audience to the right. Yuvin takes in each of their faces and sees Yohan sitting on the front row. Yohan gives him two thumbs up when their eyes meet.

_"The pain will ease, and I can learn." _The entrance's door opens to let two people in even though they're late. Yuvin sees them as they silently make way to their seats. _"There is no future,"_ once they are seated, Yuvin was able to recognize that it was Dongwook. _"There is no..." _Yuvin voice trails off when he sees the woman seated beside Dongwook. _"...past." _Yuvin breathlessly says.

_"I live this moment as my last."_ Byungchan comes in and confidently begins his line. "_There's only us. There's only this."_ Silence envelopes the four corners of the theater for the next seconds.

At the technical booth, Jinhyuk is together with Seungwoo and Seungyoun. The trio looks at each other with confusion written all over their faces. _"What's happening?" _Seungyoun asks. _"It's Yuvin's turn, but why is he not speaking?" _Jinhyuk dumbfoundedly asks back. Seungwoo can only remain silent, not knowing what is also happening.

Byungchan looks at Yuvin, waiting for him to say his line, but the said actor looks dazed. _"Forget regret, or life is yours to miss." _Byungchan continues to cover Yuvin's line as he looks like he forgot it.

_"No other road. No other way. No day but today." _Byungchan completes his next line then glances at his partner. Yuvin still looks disoriented, so Byungchan places his arm around Yuvin's shoulder to shake him lightly. It helps to get Yuvin's attention. Yuvin then tries to refocus himself to say his next line, but his mind is just completely blank. He internally panics and looks at Byungchan for help.

In the audience, Yohan looks at his friend with concern knowing that this is totally unlike him. Yohan can only clasp his hands together to say a silent prayer for Yuvin to get through the show in one piece. A couple of steps away from the stage, Hayi and Kookheon are still standing on the side. They look at each other, trying to figure out what's wrong. Hayi looks back at Yuvin worriedly.

_"I can't control my destiny." _Sensing his partner's trouble, Byungchan says the first part of the next line. Yuvin looks at his friend with gratitude, and he continued with a soft voice. _"I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be."_

Byungchan is relieved that Yuvin is back on track, so he continues their exchange of dialogues. _"There's only now, there's only here." _Yuvin regains his focus, so with great conviction, he responds, _"Give into love, or live in fear."_

Kookheon sees Yuvin looking back to the audience, or more accurately, to a specific person. He follows the direction of his gaze and it was not difficult to find her. Choi Hana stands out wherever she is. Kookheon, Yuvin's childhood friend, now understands what is happening. He looks back at his friend with nothing but worry.

_"No other course, no other way." _Yuvin and Byungchan look at each other to end the scene with their last line together. _"NO DAY but TODAY." _The mishap went unnoticed by the majority of the audience. But to the people who knows Yuvin and the script of the play, they know that something is wrong.

The scene ends and the light dims back to black. Darkness fills the stage, and so does Yuvin's heart.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	29. ☾⛧ The X-men without Wolverine ⛧☽

Kookheon's inbox.

A new group chat.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	30. ☾⛧ Hayi finally meets Hana ⛧☽

Hayi wanted to ask how Yuvin was feeling during the intermission but she thought that asking may further distract the already disoriented lad. Not to mention, he locked himself in the dressing room, so it's not like she had the opportunity to ask him anyways. So, she decided to talk to him once the play is done. However, immediately after the play, Yuvin disappeared in the sea of staff backstage.

Hayi is so confused since this is the first time she's seen Yuvin in such state. She's seen him sad over his worries about his Algebra class but she's never seen him so distraught that he'll disappear even from his closest friends. _"Was he nervous?" _She wonders, but the face he had when he stared into the audience earlier looked more like he was surprised than he was nervous. Hayi asks Kookheon, who is following her behind, if he knows what might have happened to Yuvin. He takes a moment before vaguely replying, _"past wounds" _before running away to find his friend.

_"Past wounds? Just what could Kookheon mean by that?" _Hayi wonders as she frantically runs out into the theater lobby to try to find Yuvin amongst the crowd of guests. Suddenly, she bumps into a tall pale man. She looks up and sees that it is Dongwook. _"Sir Dongwook! I didn't see you! I'm so sorry!" _She apologizes and Dongwook greets him, _"Hayi! It's okay." _Before Hayi could excuse herself, a figure steps out from behind Dongwook. _"Hayi, this is Hana; my fiancée. Hana, this is Hayi; Sejin's best friend." _Dongwook introduces the two to each other.

_"Hello, Hayi!" _Hana puts out her hand for a handshake and Hayi shakes it. _"It's nice to meet you." _Hana continues and and Hayi simply nods as a reply. As their eyes meet, Hayi suddenly remembers Kookheon's words. _Past wounds... _Standing face to face with Hana, Hayi tries to connect the dots. _"Is she Yuvin's past wounds?"_ She internally asks herself.

As the strong independent woman that she is, Hayi has always stood her ground before anyone. Not once has she ever felt so small in front of someone but that changes today. Despite looking very sweet, Choi Hana intimidates her. Is it because she's too beautiful to look at? Is Hayi envious of her successful career? Or is it because she was most probably once, or still, a significant part of Yuvin's life?

_"By the way, she's also part of the play's production design team." _Dongwook mentions to Hana. Hayi didn't even need to think of a way to bring up Yuvin in the conversation as Hana did it herself. _"Ah! So, you must know the lead actor, Yuvin! He's my childhood friend." _Hana mentions and Hayi can feel her heart twisting. _"I've known him since he was born." _She adds, now facing Dongwook. _"Really?" _Dongwook is surprised. _"Yeah! I told you about him. I remember he had a crush on me back then." _Hana shares as if it was just a cute story to tell and Dongwook laughingly says, _"Ah, so that's him... have you seen him yet?" "No. I really miss him to be honest." _Hana pouts before turning to Hayi once again. _"He was like a little brother to me. He was so annoying but so endearing!"_ She mentions and Hayi only nods. _"Is he still the same?" _Hana asks.

Hayi has been quiet the whole time, but now she's forced to say something. She definitely feels the same way as Hana; that Yuvin is so annoying but so endearing at the same, but somehow, she can't bring herself to agree with the lady. She takes a breath before calmly answering, _"He's no longer a boy. He's a man now." _Hana smiles to Hayi before saying, _"That's good to hear." _Yeah, Hayi could not bring herself to hate on this kind woman. Still, she doesn't want to stay any longer with her presence, especially now that she has to find the missing Yuvin. _"I'd like to keep on talking to you, but I have to go somewhere now." _She politely excuses herself. _"It was nice meeting you, Ms. Hana." _Hayi bows, and the couple says their goodbyes to her as well. _"Same here._ _See you again, Hayi."_

Once Hayi makes up her mind, she goes through great lengths just to achieve her goal, and right now, there is only one thing she wants to do; to give Yuvin a warm hug just like how his voice gave her a warm embrace that night.

_"If only I could cross memories, I would like to be your everything. I will be the hand to hold you when you feel scared. I will be your eyes so I can show you only the good things in life. I will be your light, like how you are my light. I won't let you fade away. I will not let you dimmer. Wait for me, Song Yuvin. I will find you again."_

_ _

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	31. ☾⛧ Finding Yuvin: The Search and Rescue Team ⛧☽

Granted that the Arts building has 14 floors with so many classrooms and spaces where Yuvin could've went, the X-Men found it so unbelievable that no one was able to find Yuvin anywhere in the school. The boys even tried checking the unlikely places but to no avail. Even Seungwoo and Yohan who went to his dorm and checked the nearby area didn't see any traces of him.

Time's up.

As they have agreed earlier, they will meet at the convenience store if they are not able to find Yuvin within 30 minutes.

Seungyoun checked the black box; a really dark alternative area for theater plays or shoot locations on the 6th floor. He entered the room and shouted, _"Yuvin are you there? Is any anyone there?" _However, he received no response. He figured that if Yuvin is indeed inside, he wouldn't answer his call so he tried to find the light switch to turn on the lights of the very dark room. He used his phone to light his way but he can't find the switch nor Yuvin. Then, he received everyone's messages of going to the convenience store. Fortunately, he left the doors of the black box open, or else, he'd have a hard time looking for the exit of the room as well.

Seungyoun huffs his way to the convenience store, hurrying as everyone else is already there. Finally, he reaches the place and lets out a loud _"Guys-" "Sshh!!!!" _The boys hushes him. They point to the counter where the employees of the night, Woooseok and Hangyul, are being scolded by the store manager.

_"Lee Hangyul, I know you're still a student and this is just a part-time job, but you can't be late every day." _The manager named Park Yunsol tells the younger boy. _"Let's say you're already a professional and is working for a big company. Do you think they'll tolerate your tardiness?" _He firmly asks with his hands resting on his waist. Hangyul only nods as a response while looking down at the floor. Upon seeing his response, Yunsol now brings his gaze to the other boy. _"And you, Kim Wooseok. Will you please use your phone less during work?" _Wooseok only nods while looking sideways and Yunsol proceeds with his talk.

_"Guys, let's talk like this." _Seungwoo leans in to whisper. _"So, Yuvin is most probably not at the arts building or his home." _He continues. _"He's not here either. Do you have any ideas where could he be?"_ Despite Yunsol's unending scolding, Wooseok and Hangyul catches Seungwoo's last sentence and becomes intrigued with X-Men's discussion. _"Do you think he went home? In Daegu?" _Yohan asks. _"No way. If he comes home, then his mom will find it weird and make him stay for a few days. There's another show tomorrow." _Kookheon presumes. _"It's also possible that he's just at his dorm and he pretended he wasn't there." _Jinhyuk says which made everyone sigh.

At this point, Wooseok and Hangyul's attentions are fully at X-Men's discussion. _"Are you listening to me?" _Yunsol asks the two workers when another sentence also catches his attention as well. _"How can we find him if he doesn't want to be found?" _Seungyoun asks. Yunsol turns to the boys and asks, _"Who's missing?"_ which startles them. Telling Yunsol about Yuvin might put the younger boy in a hard spot or make the elder worry about him since he's his employee, but they can't keep him away from the topic now since he heard them talk. _"Uhh... it's Yuvin. He disappeared after the play."_ Seungwoo answers. _"Why? What happened to him?" _Hangyul asks. _"It's a long story..." _Seungwoo reasons, but Yunsol swiftly grabs a seat beside them, followed by Wooseok and Hangyul. _"Just give us a summary." _The manager asks. _"It's really long though... but here we go." _Kookheon takes a long breath to prepare himself to tell the story.

_"So, me and Yuvin have a childhood friend that we've known since we were born. Her name is Choi Hana. She's 5 years older than us so she has treated us like her little siblings, and I treated her like an older sister as well. But, Yuvin felt different. Yuvin has always been so cheeky and clumsy, but Hana was his total opposite; independent, smart, and composed. So, naturally, Yuvin looked up to her. Me too actually. But as we grew older and became more mature, Yuvin's admiration transformed into a crush, and then from a simple crush, it became love. Hana was Yuvin's first love." _Kookheon explains and everyone is absorbed into it, especially the three convenience store boys._ "So, what happened with them?" _Wooseok curiously asks. Kookheon resumes the story.

_"Well, Hana got accepted to a university in the States. So, Yuvin thought he should confess before she leaves. And he did. But of course, Hana rejected her, saying he's too young for her; he's too young to understand what love is." _Yunsol butts in. _"That's so harsh." "I don't think Hana said to hurt Yuvin's feelings, though. She has always seen him as a younger brother so I think she's just trying to share some words as the older person. And she didn't stop contacting us even after Yuvin confessed. I think she really just thought of Yuvin as a kid."_ Kookheon shares his thoughts. _"That's why Yuvin hates it when we treat him like a young kid. That's why he doesn't call us hyungs." _Jinhyuk shares. _"So, how is this related to Yuvin's disappearance?" _Wooseok asks.

_"Hana came back from the States after a very long time, and she was watching tonight's play." _Kookheon explains, and the three all let out a small, _"Oh..."_

As if on cue, Sejin enters the store and greets everyone. _"Oh, you're all here!"_ Jinhyuk asks him, _"Yeah, did you see Yuvin? Or has Hayi seen Yuvin?" "Oh, I have no idea. Let me text Hayi." _Sejin answers. Within a matter of seconds, he receives a reply. _"She says she's still looking for him."_ Sejin informs the boys and proceeds to ask, _"Just what did happen to Yuvin? Hayi won't explain it to me until he finds him." "Shall I tell the story once again?"_ Kookheon asks everyone who has heard his explanation earlier, but Jinhyuk steps in to explain the situation to Sejin instead. _"Long story short, Yuvin saw his first love today as part of the audience after so many years."_ _"Oh... and I assume he's hurt? So, he disappeared?" _Sejin carefully asks and the boys confirm his guess by nodding. They all go quiet after a while, and to break the silence, Sejin whispers to Jinhyuk. _"Off-topic. But did uncle go to the play today?"_ _"Yeah, he went with Hana noona-"_ Jinhyuk's voice trails off.

Like a broken cassette player, all the boys echoed, _"Hana?" _Jinhyuk looks at Kookheon to ask question. _"Where did you see Hana? Where was she seated?" "Uh..." _Kookheon's voice is shaking. _"She was seated beside Sir Dongwook..." "Could it be..."_ Seungwoo says in a soft voice but everyone can hear him. _"Yuvin's first love and Sir Dongwook's fiancée are the same person?"_ He asks without waiting for any answer in return, and once again, silence falls on them. Suddenly, someone slams the table. _"No way..." _They look at the end of the table and sees another familiar boy. _"Eunsang?!"_ They all shout in unison. _"Since when did you get here?!" _Seungyoun who was sitting beside him asks. _"Before he came in here." _Eunsang points to Sejin. _"What?!"_ They all exclaim but Seungwoo hushes them. _"Shh! Let's not get distracted. Everyone, we need to find Yuvin." "Okay, but where else would he be?"_ Yohan asks. _"Han River? He might be reflecting there."_ Eunsang presumes, and they all gasped at the possibility. _"Someone has to go there." _Seungwoo says to the boys. Byungchan and Kookheon both raise their hands. Seungwoo proceeds to assigning places to everyone. _"Okay, you two check the Han River. Me and Yohan will go back to his dorm. As for Seungyoun and Jinhyuk, how about checking the other school buildings?"_ _"Let's split the places."_ Jinhyuk says to Seungyoun. _"I wanna help too."_ Sejin chimes in. _"I can check in the other buildings too." "Sure. Thank you, Sejin."_ Seungwoo says. _"Wooseok, Hangyul, and manager-nim, please message us if he comes here at the store." "Alright." _The three boys tell Seungwoo. _"How about me?" _Eunsang asks. _"Shouldn't you be at home already? It's gonna be 9 pm soon."_ Jinhyuk worryingly says. _"It's okay. I have no classes tomorrow." _Eunsang says with a smile. As they no longer have time to discuss whether or not to let Eunsang join them or to send him home, Seungwoo allows the boy to go with them. _"You'll come with us," _he says, and they set out to find Yuvin.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	32. ☾⛧ A night full of fears ⛧☽

8:01. In the middle of the evening rush, a lone wolf walks through the crowd with a black cloud hanging over his head. While the streets are busy and swarming with many people, he feels empty and alone.

_"Out of all the days it can happen, why today?" _Yuvin sighs as he looks around the busy road ahead of him. _"Why does it have to happen in front of Hayi?" _He says to further bury himself with so much negativity as he continues to walk aimlessly. Yuvin isn't sure where he is going, but all he wants to do right now is to run away; far from reality and even farther away from his past.

He suddenly remembers Hana's smile when their eyes met in the theater. _"Why was she even there?" _Yuvin feels like he is carrying the whole world._ "It's been five long years, but I still feel the same fear." _Yuvin looks at the dark sky, reminiscing about the time when he was back in his hometown.

Choi Hana, his neighbor back in Daegu, is a naturally gifted artist. She was also his first love. Yuvin follows the beautiful girl around and makes sure he would be the reason she'll smile every day. He tried to learn all the silliest things to the point others find him annoying, but Yuvin didn't mind as long as he can fulfill his duty.

Then, they both grew up in time. Hana grew up into a beautiful young woman, while Yuvin grew up too, but he wanted to be older. He wants to be older and more mature because to Hana's eyes, Yuvin will always be that young boy she needs to take care of.

That has always been Yuvin's struggle. He always feels like a child playing with a bigger man's shoes. He trips and falls, but he never gives up. He continued to stay beside Hana until he realized how he truly feels about her. It took him a long time to have enough courage to confess to her and to make her recognize that he is no longer a boy.

_"Yuvin, you silly boy. Is this part of your growing up phase?" _Hana didn't take it seriously and just teased Yuvin. _"You're still young, and there is more to love that you should know! You should study more so you can be an actor. It was your dream when you were a cute 7-year-old, right?" _Hana ruffles Yuvins head with a smile like she always does. Who would have thought that her sweet smile will become a poison to Yuvin's heart?

He expected too much out of the confession, from Hana, and from himself. Being a grown-up was just too much for a teenager to do. It made Yuvin doubt himself as he thinks that he will never be good enough for anyone, especially to Hana. No matter how hard he tries, there would always be something missing; something that he will be lacking.

After that incident, aside from his farewell post on Instagram, Yuvin stopped talking to Hana until she left to the States to pursue her dream to be an artist. They've never seen each other for the past five years, let alone talk, so her sudden appearance is such a surprise to him.

As Yuvin ponders on his feelings, he didn't notice that he reached the convenience store. _"It always leads me back here." _He says when he stopped walking from a safe distance, knowing that everyone is looking for him now and he is not ready to be found yet. Instead of going inside, he went to the back of the store, which is the unlikeliest place he'll ever visit.

The back of the store is dim since Hangyul forgot to change the bulb last week and no one remembered to replace it due to their busy schedules to prepare for the play. Yuvin doesn't mind it and proceeds to sit on the pavement with his back leaning on the wall. He looks at the sky again to see that it's now painted with the beautiful twinkling stars, unlike the blank dark sky earlier.

_"This is just like how Hayi came into my life." _Yuvin thinks to himself, imagining how she became his guiding star for months; the only muse that inspires him to face his fear of not being enough. Yuvin has never expected that his little crush on Hayi will grow into something bigger and deeper than he ever imagined. He doesn't know if Hana was right that he was too young to understand what love is, but he's certain that by being with Hayi makes his reality worthwhile.

_"But am I keeping my hopes too high just like before?" _Yuvin solemnly says to himself as he brings his knees closer to put his arm around them. _"What if... it doesn't work out again? What if I'm still a young boy?" _He buries his face on his knees as he embraces them tighter to find a sense of comfort amid his anxiousness.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

Hayi finds herself inside the Italian restaurant she once ate at with Yuvin. She finds it difficult to carefully look around for Yuvin since it's a busy day for the store. Ten minutes after Hayi's search and there is still no sign of Yuvin. _"Where are you?" _She whispers to the air hoping that it'll reach Yuvin. Hayi has been running around many different places, and she's getting exhausted.

However, she knows that she needs to find him no matter what, so she continues to her next destination, the convenience store. As she walks, she checks her phone and sees no new messages yet. Hayi sighs while putting her phone back to her pocket. _"I hope you're okay, Yuvin," _is the last thing she said as she runs to the store.

Hayi thinks she has memorized the streets that even with her eyes closed, she'll be able to get to the store with no problem. But just in case, she never dares to do that for her own safety. Probably, Yuvin would also do something as foolish as that. He's someone who never fails to do anything in fear of regretting not doing it.

Hayi wonders if Yuvin disappeared because he still likes Hana. _"Does he regret not doing more since he now knows she is engaged?" _Hayi suddenly thinks to herself but immediately pushes it away as she finally reached the store.

From the outside, she can already tell that the store is completely empty, so it's easy to tell that Yuvin is not there. Hayi breathes out in defeat, knowing that this is the last place on her list. But instead of giving up, she moves to the back of the store, crossing her fingers, hoping he'll be there.

_"It's so dark," _is the first thing she said when she gets to the back of the store. For a person who doesn't have clear eyesight, they'll totally miss the lone figure hiding behind the dark shadow. Good thing, Hayi has a 20/20 vision and she can spot a person hiding in the shadows easily. It's Yuvin. _"I've never seen him like this. He's so..." _Hayi pauses to try to come up with a perfect word to describe him. _"He looks so broken." _She feels her heart aches seeing him like this, so she carefully approaches him and sits beside him.

Yuvin remained unmoving, and he didn't even spare her a single glance, but Hayi is sure that he saw her. Never has she seen such a serious-looking Yuvin in the whole time they have known each other. As silence enveloped them, Hayi starts to feel extremely uncomfortable from the heavy atmosphere. _"I need to say something." _She thinks hard about any topic to break the silence, so she carefully says, _"Hey, Yuvin, I was looking for you. I wanted to tell you that you looked so cool in the play earlier. I never imagined that you can act so well!"_

Silence. Hayi looks back and forth from Yuvin and to the star-filled sky. A minute passes, but she still didn't get any response. _"Nice try, Hayi. Now what?" _Hayi scolds herself for her failed attempt and tries to think of another topic. It's difficult for her since Yuvin is usually the one who starts the conversation.

She tried to complete stir away from any Hana related topic, knowing that Yuvin will probably walk out on her. _"You know, I really liked this line from the play..." _Hayi says instead as she finally thought of something good to discuss. _"Just slip me on, I'll be your blanket. Wherever, whatever, I'll be your coat." _Hayi feels her heart melts with the comfort that this line brings. _"How about you... what's your favorite line?" _Again, another wave of silence envelops them, so Hayi accepts her defeat.

_"You complete me." _Yuvin finally uttered a sentence without looking at Hayi. She's surprised, but she is happy that he is finally talking to her! However, her happiness is short lived once Yuvin's answer finally sinks in. _"That's not part of the play."_ She confusingly says as she is sure that she did not hear that line.

Soon after she responds, Yuvin goes back to his shell and remains silent again. Hayi then immediately regrets her choice of words as the conversation ended far too quickly. The silence is irking Hayi, and her ideas already runout. _"What to do? What to do?" _She chants in her head.

_"How about this?" _Yuvin begins as he then looks at Hayi straight in the eye. _"I'm just a boy, sitting in front of a girl, asking her to love him."_ Hayi senses no hint of mischief in his voice; he sounds completely serious and desperate. In his eyes, Hayi always sees a sparkle of hope and happiness, but now it has nothing but insecurity and fear.

_"How much was he hurt in the past,"_ Hayi wonders knowing that it has been a long time, but Yuvin is still hurting. Hayi doesn't know what to say next as she is afraid to hurt him even more. So right now, the only thing she can do is to answer his question honestly.

_"You're not a boy. You're a man." _Hayi firmly says to assure him that she doesn't think any less of him. She sees her own reflection in his eyes, and even she is surprised by her honesty.

_1 2 3. _It only took three seconds before she sees the corners of Yuvin's lips turning up into his signature smile. Hayi feels the black cloud finally flying away, and she can't help but smile with him.

_"You haven't answered my question..." _Yuvin asks, and Hayi is confused by the sudden question. _"What question?"_ She asks back. _"Have you fallen in love with me?" _Yuvin finally repeats the question he asked her before. Just like last time, Hayi is at a loss of words. In her head, she's screaming a loud _"YES!" _but due to the shock, she can't say anything out loud.

There is a long pause, but neither of them looks away from each other. It was like there is an attractive force which is pulling them in; a connection that's continuously growing day by day. In the silence of the night, suddenly a drumroll echoes through the back of the store.

Startled by the sound, Hayi and Yuvin break their eye contact to look around to the source of the noise. And there stood the whole search and rescue team, a.k.a. The X-men ft. Eunsang, Wooseok, Hangyul who have a bag of garbage in his hand. _"How long were you all standing there?" _Yuvin asks the intruders once he recovers from his shock.

The boys look at them with the biggest grin on their faces. _"Enough to know that you are not in a bad mood anymore," _Kookheon says. _"Please continue what you were doing!" _Byungchan excitedly claps his hands as if he is watching the climax scene of a movie. _"Don't mind us!" _Seungyoun chimes in before playing the drum roll again.

Hayi can feel her face burning with embarrassment. _"Why are they always there to witness my awkward moments with Yuvin?" _She complains in her head before standing up. Yuvin does the same and proceeds to shoot daggers to his friends. He senses Hayi's discomfort, so he says, _"C'mon everyone, it's time to go home."_

_"Boo!" _The boys complain as they were waiting expectantly for Hayi's response, but Yuvin just had to be a killjoy. The lonely and silent night is long gone, and at this moment, Yuvin realizes that he has everything he needs right here, right now. His wound still hasn't fully healed, and it tortures him until to the point that he doubts himself even in the smallest things, _"But time does really heal wounds, right?" _Yuvin says in his head as he fondly looks at Hayi.

Wounds heal but scars remain to remind you that after the pain you'll find eventually find relief. The comfort may come from yourself, or it may come from someone that will brighten your whole world like a warm cozy summer day. Yuvin may not be the best at making the right choices, but he is sure about Hayi and his feelings. One thing he should now learn is to be confident with his choices and not second guess the future that he truly deserves. That is, to face tomorrow with no fear, and to look back at yesterday with no regret.

Yuvin catches Hayi's eyes, and gives her a genuine and thankful smile in which she responds similarly. He then turns to his big and loud group of friends to push them away. As they leave, they start to cheer, "_Go Hayi! We are rooting for you!" _Yuvin tries to silence them, but what can one man do to stop five rowdy people. Hangyul and Wooseok also went back inside the store.

_"Finally, some peace." _Hayi sighs when their noise fades away. She takes a couple of breaths to calm herself down, and when she opens her eyes, she surprisingly sees Eunsang standing in front of her._ "Why are you still here, Eunsang?" _She asks the younger boy._ "It's late now. You should go home too." _Eunsang shakes his head before flashing a tiny smile towards Hayi.

_"You know after I told you about Junho..." Eunsang says to Hayi with his hands hidden behind his back. "I felt good and reassured." _Hayi listens to him, sensing where this is going. _"You should try to open up about your feelings to me as well. I promise I won't tease you like the other hyungs!" _Eunsang then raises his right hand as if he is swearing an oath.

As Hayi looks at the smiling boy in front of him, she feels that she can trust him, but she still feels reluctant to share her inner thoughts and feelings to anyone at the moment. So instead of talking, she pulls the tall boy to start walking. Eunsang did not complain about her silence and just gave the older one some space to think.

Under the night sky, their footsteps echo through the almost empty street. Both of them continued to walk in silence, but Eunsang notices that Hayi is in deep thought as she is looking down without minding where she's going. Eunsang holds her arm to move her aside before she hit the pole ahead of her.

As if that didn't happen, they continued to walk in silence, and Eunsang feels his anxiety going up. _"I shouldn't have brought that up... now Hayi noona looks sad."_ He pouts to himself as he puts his hand inside his pockets. _"I should do something to cheer-"_

_"I'm scared."_ Hayi suddenly says and interrupts the boy's thought. Eunsang has never heard Hayi with such tone before. He knows her as a strong and independent woman, and he would have never imagined that he'll see her look so insecure. _"I'm scared that everything might just be too good to be true._" Hayi continues, now looking up to the sky.

_"I've never liked someone this much before." _Hayi shared Eunsang is shocked by the sudden confession since he thought that by her age, she should have experienced her first love already. _"Why?"_ The boy carefully asks out of curiosity. For the first time since they started to walk, Hayi finally looks at Eunsang fondly because she finds his question innocent and cute.

_"Time, Eunsang."_ She answers. _"I purposely didn't make time for love and pushed away any romantic feelings aside so I can focus on my studies. I wanted to be the best; without anything, or anyone, holding me back. But..."_ Hayi pauses to take a deep breath before finally admitting her inner feelings._ "These past months, I feel that old belief of mine changing."_

_"Because of Yuvin hyung?"_ He innocently asks again, and Hayi can't find it in herself to get annoyed since the boy looks nothing but curious. _"Yes."_ Hayi briefly answers, and it remains silent again after that.

Hayi thinks that Eunsang might actually be right. Opening up about her feelings surely makes her feel a little bit better, so Hayi quickly made up her mind to let the cat out of the bag before she misses this chance. _"But you know Yuvin, he teases everyone a lot."_ She lets out a sigh then continues, _"I'm worried that he might just be teasing me, and none of it is true."_

Eunsang now understands Hayi. He understands where her worry is coming from since, unofficially, this could be her first love. Eunsang is no expert in the love field since he is also pretty new to it, but one thing that he is sure of is that Hayi and Yuvin obviously feels something special for each other.

_"Well, that's Yuvin hyung's natural personality, but I believe that he's not someone who will intentionally play with other people's feelings."_ Eunsang states based on his own observation. _"I honestly think he likes you, and you should just give him a chance to prove himself."_

Hayi tried to reassure herself so many times before and it never worked. However, coming from Eunsang, she knows that there is no hint of any lie. That's why, after listening to Eunsang's words, she feels genuinely reassured. _"You're probably right."_ With a smile on her face, Hayi then pats him at the back to silently thank him for his encouragement.

_"It's just like how I took the chance to befriend Junho, even though I'm afraid I'll get rejected. In the same way, you should also face your fear, noona." _He continues._ "Look at me now, I'm one step closer to my goal."_ Eunsang proudly highlights his own achievement. Hayi finally loosens up and gives the brightest smile upon hearing Eunsang's choice of words.

"_Any new big progress with Junho?"_ She then switches the spotlight to Eunsang to get an update with the boy's love life. Eunsang calmly responds, _"There's a little bit upgrade with him."_ Although it's dark, Hayi can tell that he is red as a tomato just by admitting that aloud. _"Spill the tea! What kind of upgrade?"_ She says in a teasing manner as she bumps her shoulder to his.

_"I was kidding!"_ Eunsang lightly pushes Hayi away. _"I'm just happy that I can now at least finally say that he's my friend."_ Hayi isn't convinced, but she lets it go for now. She'll make sure to get the juicy details next time as they have reached the crossroad where they will part ways.

_"Thank you for your advice, Eunsang. I really appreciate it."_ Hayi genuinely says to the younger boy, feeling extremely thankful. _"Anytime, noona."_ Eunsang smiles as he starts to walk to the other side._ "Don't forget what I said!"_

Hayi nods and shoos him away before she crosses the road. There are so many things that happened today, and she's glad that everything turned out fine in the end. Hayi also hopes that whatever happens in the future, she will be ready to welcome it with open arms.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	33. ☾⛧ A new month, a new week, a new Hayi ⛧☽

A new month, a new week, another monday morning. If Hayi was still her old self, she'd be be groaning as soon as she wakes up and will be forcing herself to do her morning routine half asleep. However, the past few weeks have made her look forward to going to school and work everyday because her source of annoyance has become her source of joy.

9:30 AM. Hayi wakes up earlier than usual. As she doesn't have to hurry, she takes a calming bath and gets out of the shower feeling refreshed. She also cooks herself a proper breakfast; fried rice with 2 pieces of bacon and eggs. She even took the time to make herself coffee and drink it while scrolling through her Instagram account. She then proceeds to wear a comfortable set of pants, loose t-shirt, and flat shoes. After that, she faces the mirror and neatly ties her hair as well as puts on a light amount of makeup on her face.

Hayi has always looked like a zombie dragging herself to school everyday for most of her time in college, but one guy was able to make her change in just a span of weeks. She herself can't believe it but she's thankful nonetheless.

_"You're going to do amazing today, Hayi!"_ She tells herself while facing the mirror. _"Go Hayi! Go Hayi!"_ What was once an annoying greeting has become an energizing cheer to herself.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	34. ☾⛧ I can do this alone ⛧☽

Unlike her past self, Hayi goes to school with a mind cleared of worries, or at least that what she thought. As soon as she arrives in front of her classroom, she takes a moment to process her feelings. It's her thesis consultation today. She's already done with her paper and all that's left is the execution of the project. However, she has doubts on whether or not she can pull it off, especially alone. But, well, she has no other choice than to face her thesis adviser today.

_"Go Hayi!" _She whispers to herself before pushing the door to enter the room. _"Good morning Ma'am Yumi!"_ Hayi greets the professor who greets her back, _"Hayi! You look really pretty today! You look more lively."_ _"Thank you Ma'am." _Hayi blushes from the compliment, especially coming from a pretty lady. _"So, how's your thesis?"_ And there it is; the question Hayi dreads to hear. Her smile immediately turns into a frown and her professor chuckles at her. _"Why? What's up? Tell me."_ Shin Yumi asks as Hayi sits on the chair in front of her. _"Everything's fine..." _Hayi hesitantly says while avoiding eye contact._ "I'm just figuring out my schedule, and once that's done, I think things will be smooth sailing." _Professor Yumi can see that Hayi isn't being honest. _"I know you're not actually thinking that..." _She then searches for Hayi's paper on her laptop which was sent via email last night and skims through it. _"I still think your thesis topic is great, and you wrote your paper well. However, the execution... Do you think you can do this alone? In a month?"_

On one hand, Hayi feels relieved that she doesn't have to continue lying about her worries because she simply can't stand being untrue to anyone. However, she also feels somewhat embarrassed since her thesis adviser basically read her mind.

_"To be honest," _Hayi starts off with a shaking voice. Professor Yumi tries to calm her by giving her a pat on the shoulder._ "I've been really anxious about that." _Hayi continues after she finally relaxes her body and shifts her position to properly face her adviser. _"I mean, I think I can do this alone but given my schedule and the deadline," _Her voice trails off. _"Hayi, why do you insist on doing this alone?" _Professor Yumi sincerely asks.

That's true. Why is Hayi insisting that she does her thesis alone? Yes, this is a solo project but there is no rule that says she can't ask for help from other people just because she's doing a solo project. However, this is Hayi. No matter how hard the situation gets, she never approaches anyone because she's used to doing things alone. She's used to solving her problems on her own.

_"I told you from the very start that while I really love your idea, this is a very ambitious project." _Hayi feels her soul falling into a slump. _"It's too late for another thesis topic but you can downsize this project." _Professor Yumi offers, but Hayi is persistent. _"I really want to pursue this." _Once Hayi makes up her mind, she goes through great lengths just to achieve her goal. That is her strength, as well as her weakness. _"You have to be sure with yourself then." _Professor Yumi's words ring on and on in Hayi's ear. She's not sure when she started becoming scared of so many things because as far as she can remember, she's never had any troubles facing problems head on. Maybe she's experiencing a breaking point in her life, or maybe this is just what thesis does to people. _"I will." _She firmly says to Professor Yumi, although she is still uncertain about so many things.

_"Remember my words, Hayi." _Professor Yumi gives her a warm smile which she returns back to her. _"Thank you for today, Ma'am Yumi." _She says before proceeding out of the room.

Unlike how she came to the school earlier, Hayi's mind is now once again full of worries. _"I'm around 50% done with the commission painting so I can schedule doing it every Friday. And then on weekends-" _She was busy sorting out her schedule when she suddenly bumps into someone. _"Seungyoun?"_ The loud fellow holding a folder and xylophone is standing right at the door. _"Were you eavesdropping?"_ Hayi asks but Seungyoun denies it. _"Uh. No?! Let me just- Wait for me." _He runs to Professor Yumi to submit his folder and quickly goes back to Hayi. He stares at her for a while, trying to think of an excuse, before finally giving up and telling her the truth. _"Okay, I did hear some parts of your conversation with Ma'am Yumi. But! It was an accident. I swear."_ Seungyoun nervously explains.

Although Hayi is kind, Seungyoun can't help but be a little bit scared of her. _"Yeah? Okay." _Hayi nonchalantly responds before walking away, different from what Seungyoun was expecting. _"Hey, wait up!" _He chases after her. _"What?" "So? What is your plan? Will you ask for help?"_ Without any hesitation, Hayi replies, _"No. I can sort it out alone." _Then, a loud _Ding! _rings through her ears. _"That's the wrong answer!" _Seungyoun says after playing a note on his xylophone. _"You shouldn't do things on your own when it's clear that you can't do it alone." _He advises her. Hayi didn't expect Seungyoun to be so concerned for her, but then again, despite being a jokester, Seungyoun has always been the kind of person who'll go out of his way to help anyone, even if they just met today. _"Then should I ask for help?"_ _Ding Dong Dang! "That's the correct answer!"_ Hayi sighs for so many reasons. _"I don't want to burden anyone, though."_ She mumbled but Seungyoun hears it. _"Hey, don't think like that. I'm sure there are lots of people who are willing to help you." _However, Hayi is not convinced. _"Nah... I'll just find another way."_ She insists and Seungyoun can only sigh.

☾⛧New Character!⛧☽

☆°˖✧ Shin Yumi ✧˖°☆

A professor in the art department. She is Hayi's thesis adviser and Seungyeon's vocal teacher.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	35. ☾⛧ YuYi, JunSang and third wheel² Seungyoun ⛧☽

_"Twinkle, Twinkle Little star. How I wonder what you are~" _The tinkling sound coming from the xylophone follows Hayi as she peacefully tries to get to the store without losing her temper. Meanwhile, Seungyoun with his mini xylophone is cheerfully playing every single nursery rhymes he knows.

Hayi quickens her steps to distance herself from the said boy, but Seungyoun is quick to notice and catches up to her, still playing the same song. _"Are you five years old?" _Hayi finally says, feeling fed up with his childish choice of music.

To answer Hayi's question, Seungyoun nods his head and remixes the song, _"I'm a little teapot. Short and stout!" _After everything that has happened recently, Hayi has prepared herself with the heavy teasing she'll get from the boys, but this, this is far from what she expected. Hayi tries to control her irritation and walks until she gets to the store.

Thankfully, it only took a couple of minutes for them to arrive in the store. Hayi feels her heartbeat race upon seeing Yuvin face to face even several days after that (memorable) night. She is now mentally prepared for these moments, and she's sure that it'll always be awkward from now on. But here's Yuvin, standing in front of her with no hint of discomfort. He smiles and waves at her as well as at the childlike person behind her. Hayi feels relieved that everything is just like how it was before.

As Yuvin and Seungyoun greet each other, Hayi takes the chance to escape to the back room to change into her uniform. It's been a long day for our heroine, and there is a lot in her mind right now. In particular, she's feeling edgy about her thesis. Ms. Yumi's recent comment is making her rethink her whole concept.

She's so stressed about the idea of re-doing or downsizing her presentation. To Hayi, this is her dream thesis. But as Ms. Yumi mentioned it's extravagant and hard to pull off. Hayi is anxious that she might be right. _"What if I don't finish setting up on time?"_ She says to herself as she zones out by the counter.

_"Hi, Hayi!"_ Yuvin greets her, but the said girl did not notice. He wonders if she might be ignoring him because of what happened recently. Yuvin tries not to show his worry as he calls Hayi in a softer voice, _"Hayi?" _She then snaps back to reality to see Yuvin looking at her. _"Are you okay?" _Yuvin asks.

Hayi can't find it in herself to bring up her problem, knowing that Yuvin is also facing his own troubles. _"There's no need to burden anyone else, Hayi." _She states in her head with an inaudible sighs. However, Yuvin was able to magically hear it and asks, _"What's wrong?"_

_"It's nothing." DING! _Seungyoun makes a sound that echoes through the store. _"Nuh-uh. It's not nothing." _He claims as he looks at Yuvin to let him know. Hayi shoots Seungyoun daggers in an attempt to stop him, but in response Seungyoun gestures Yuvin to come closer to his table.

_"Sooo this is what happened..." _Seungyoun makes an effort to whisper the whole story to Yuvin, but he ultimately fails since Hayi can still clearly hear him. Hayi rolls her eyes, blaming her unfortunate luck of meeting Seungyoun during the most unlikely chance.

Realization creeps in Yuvin head when he hears the whole story of Hayi's conflict with her thesis. _"I volunteer as tribute!" _He raises his arms as he makes his way to the counter. _"What are you talking about?"_ A confused Hayi asks the overly passionate lad.

_"I can help you with your thesis!" _He cheerfully exclaims. _"Oh... actually-" _Hayi tries to reject, but Yuvin continues to speak._ "Say no more! I will do everything you say!" "What I mean is-" "Do you need more people to help with your exhibit?" "Well-" "I know a lot of people! I will bring everyone to-" "STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"_ Hayi reaches her limit which makes her lose her calm demure.

_"I don't need help with anything, Yuvin." _Hayi says once she calms down._ "I can sort it all out by myself, and I only need some time to think things through."_ _"But I can-" "Good Afternoon!"_

A cheerful Eunsang greets them, holding his two banana milk. The two are surprised by his sudden appearance since they did not hear anyone come in the store when they were (loudly) talking. _"Are you having a lovers' quarrel?" _Eunsang innocently says as he witnesses the earlier events.

_DING DONG DANG! "Yes, Eunsang, they are!" _Seungyoun chimes in, fulfilling his duty as the official sound effect maker. Hayi glares at everyone except Eunsang and calmly says, _"No, Eunsang. We're just talking." _She takes his two banana milk to punch them. _"Don't worry! We're not in that level..." _Yuvin pauses to look at Hayi and decides to jazz things up by adding _"yet."_

Gone is Hayi's irritation because now, she can feel her face heat up. She gives Eunsang his purchases and quickly leaves the counter to check the beverage stocks in the fridge. Yuvin and Eunsang's eyes meet, then they shrug before giving each other a lighthearted laugh.

Time went so slowly after that, especially to Hayi as she tries to focus her attention on the inventory she's writing at the hidden corner of the store. _Ting Tong._ It's difficult for her to write because her mind keeps playing tricks with her. _Ting Tong, Ting Tong. _Yuvin's words keep lingering in her head. She can't help but reflect if it has some hidden meaning behind it. _Ting Tong. _She wonders if she'll ever be ready- _Ting Tong, Ting Tong. _Hayi feels her blood boiling._ "Cho Seungyoun, you're dead." _He's annoyingly playing his xylophone which is distracting her, so she walks to the table section to kick him out of the store.

However, what she sees makes her forget her mission. A couple of steps away from her is Eunsang seated with Junho. Hayi hides at the closest food rack and secretly watches the two. It looks like Junho just got to the store since his burger is not yet open. Eunsang almost immediately gives one of his banana milk to him without hesitation. Hayi can't help but internally squeals with their cute interaction. _"I can't believe this boy did not tell me! They're basically best friends now!" _Hayi whispers to herself as she tries to cover her mouth to control herself.

_"Why are you hiding here?" Ting Tong. "Yeah, why are we hiding and whispering?" _Hayi almost yelps to see Yuvin and Seungyoun. "_Will you stop playing your xylophone, they might hear us!" _Hayi threatens before going back to spying, ignoring the two intruders.

Junho and Eunsang are now happily talking to each other. _"There seems to be some good progress." _Yuvin proudly whispers to Hayi in which she returns with a nod. _"I need to make Eunsang spill the tea." _Hayi states, not looking away from the two. Yuvin can't keep his eyes away from Hayi now that their faces are so close to each other. _Ting Tong._ Hayi and Yuvin glare at Seungyoun. He complains back to them, _"I'm becoming the third wheel of a third wheel!" _Poor Seungyoun, but at least he has his xylophone to comfort him.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	36. ☾⛧ Surprise?⛧☽

_Click. _Although Hayi said she's only going to do the commission painting every Friday starting this week, she still worked on it every night after school and work because she figured it would be better and faster to focus on one thing at a time. _"Good day, Sir Dongwook. I'm already about 70% percent done with the painting..." _Hayi types into her phone. She estimates that if she works on the painting every weekday night, she can finish it in about 2 weeks time without sacrificing the quality of course. However, she'll have to sacrifice some hours of sleep instead, but that's not new for our heroine. _"Kindly tell me what you think about it. Thank you." _She sends the message to Dongwook along with the photo of the painting she took earlier.

As she doesn't have a class today, Hayi is tempted to just spend the whole day lazing around on her bed until she has to go to work in the afternoon. _"Why do you feel so soft today?" _She says to the bed she's lying on now. _"I wanna stay like this."_ However, she doesn't want to waste time, not when she is already struggling to allocate time to all her school and commission works.

_Ting! _She reaches for her phone, expecting to see a reply from Dongwook, but she gets a message from Yuvin instead. She bolts up.

Hayi tries to hold back her squeal but she's smiling from ear to ear. _Breathe in. Breathe out. _Nervousness and excitement fill her. Although she sees Yuvin everyday, nothing romantic has actually happened between them ever since that night at the back of the convenience store. _"Is he finally- no. no." _Hayi doesn't want to count the chicks before the eggs crack open. _"Let's not get too ahead, Go Hayi."_ She tells herself before going back to smiling on her own.

She opens her wardrobe and picks a flowery dress. _"Hmm... this might be a bit too much. What if it's not a date?" _She worries so she takes a plain shirt like the usual. _"This looks so casual though." _She returns it and opts for a flowery blouse and a comfortable set of pants. _"I hope I don't look overdressed." _She says as she turns around to see her fit. _"This should be fine." _She decides before putting on light make up and letting her hair down for a change. She doesn't know what to expect from Yuvin, so this whole surprise thing is lowkey stressing her out. _"Go Hayi!"_ She cheers to calm herself before leaving her dorm.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	37. ☾⛧ The X-Men ft. Sejin to the rescue ⛧☽

_"What kind of surprise will he have?" _Hayi wonders as she was walking to the cafe._ "Did I leave my sketchbook again?"_ She gasps. _"Idiot. You were drawing on it earlier."_ She immediately answers to herself before knocking her head. _"I can't think of any reason why he would surprise me unless he's asking me to be his girlfr-"_ Hayi suddenly halts from walking to throw some punches in the air. She would look really cute right now if this was a romantic comedy drama, but she's in the real world in a real street with real people looking at her as if she was possessed, but she doesn't care. She's in her own world right now. _"I said, let's not get too ahead." _She reminds herself._ "Stay calm, girl."_ And she proceeds to walk.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

_"What's up?" _Hayi asks a group of boys hanging out at the cafe. She was open to the possibility that Yuvin might not be asking her out on a date, but she didn't expect that there will be other people with them today. Yuvin's face brightens up as he turns to her. _"Tada! I found you workers!"_ He cheerfully presents to her the regulars at the convenience store; none other than the X-Men. _"What do you mean?" "We're going to help you on your thesis!"_ Yuvin explains. _"No, you don-"_ Hayi is about to reject but they all stood up and saluted in unison, _"We're at your service!"_ Well, there is no escape. Now that the boys surely know her situation, thanks to a certain Mr. Cho, Hayi knows that they will help her with her thesis whether she likes it or not. Why was she insisting on working alone anyways? _"Okay."_ She tells them and they all clap their hands. She was about to feel bummed out upon realizing that she isn't having a date with Yuvin today, but she is thankful that what Seungyoun said the other day was right; that there are people who are willing to help her.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

Things really got easier for Hayi with the help of X-Men and Sejin. From planning to buying materials for her thesis, they chipped in their ideas.

_"How and when will you decorate if you use a real location? There will be people coming in and out." "But if she recreates it, then that's a heavy load of work. We're going to start from scratch." "It would be so much secure though." "Yeah, and we're used to making all sorts of sets anyways." "How about the materials? Are we going to use real shelves?" "The convenience store has spare shelves." "Recreating the space would be the best option now. At least, you'd get to have control over the whole area."_

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

After a week of meetings and materials shopping, Hayi with her whole crew started working on the execution of her thesis. Fortunately, there were no more scheduled shows on the Black Box for the rest of the term, so Seungwoo was able to successfully reserve the place under Hayi's name until her thesis presentation day. Sejin, Byungchan, and Jinhyuk went to Hayi's dorm to help her carry the paintings and props, while Yuvin, Kookheon, and Seungyoun went to the convenience store to transport the spare shelves to the school.

At the box, Yuvin gives out directions to the boys about the placement of materials as he is holding the layout of the exhibit, while Hayi herself handles the installation of the paintings. Kookheon and Sejin fill the shelves with props as the tall boys Byungchan and Jinhyuk put black drapes onto the ceiling to limit the area of the set. Then, there is Seungyoun who is carrying Jinhyuk's camera to document the whole process. _"Ms. Go Hayi! How are the preparations going so far?"_ He asks Hayi while impersonating a news reporter. _"It's going fine! Things are actually moving faster than what I expected."_ Hayi genuinely answers. _"Right? So, do you think it was a good decision to have helpers?"_

Although Seungyoun already knows what Hayi is going to answer, he felt that the girl still needs to say it and hear it from herself. Sometimes, saying things out loud is an act of validation; acceptance. _"Yeah, I think I made a good decision."_ Hayi sincerely says to Seungyoun, to the camera, and to herself.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	38. ☾⛧ The big reveal ⛧☽

_"Wow..." _Inside the art room, Sejin finds himself captivated by the beautifully painted canvas in front of him. _"I've seen all your work in the past, but you definitely outdid yourself this time!" _Hayi can't help but agree with this statement. Even she herself is surprised when she finished painting a few days ago.

_"This is definitely the most challenging piece I've worked on, but look at it now... this may be my best work so far!" _Hayi happily exclaims. Today, she will be meeting Sejin's uncle to officially give the painting to him. Dongwook has been nothing but patient, and Hayi is extremely thankful for his endless understanding.

_"How did you come up with this, Hayi?"_ Sejin wonders as he continues to examine the painting. They are now both inside one of the art rooms as they wait for Dongwook to arrive._"Your uncle was very particular with what he wants, so I just followed it and voila!" _Sejin gives her an amused look and says, _"Or maybe you were just romantically inspired."_

_Ping! _Sejin suddenly receives a message just before another wave of teasing starts, and Hayi is relieved to easily dodge it. _"He's in the lobby now. He'll be here soon!" _Hayi suddenly feels her heart pounding. Although she is very proud of her work, she still feels nervous about presenting it. _"I'll wait for him by the elevator." _Hayi nods before Sejin excitedly goes away.

Hayi has done a lot of research to make sure everything in the painting will be significant. She made sure to be as accurate as she can be, and hopefully, she can at least meet Dongwook's standard.

Soon after the door opens, and two gentlemen walk in the room. Hayi sees Dongwook, looking as dashing as ever. _"Good afternoon, Hayi." _He warmly greets her before his eyes naturally drift to the painting beside her. Hayi expects him to speak out his opinion, but she receives nothing but silence.

The air feels colder than before as Hayi's confidence shrinks. Dongwook stands in front of the painting, unmoving. Both Hayi and Sejin, don't know what to expect next after the silence that envelops them. They aren't sure if the silence is meant to be a good or bad sign. _"My goodness, I think my career will end just before it begins." _Negativity floods Hayi's mind and Sejin senses it. He tries to relieve the unspoken tension by asking, _"What can you say, uncle?"_

Dongwook immediately snaps out of his unwavering gaze to look back at the two. _"It's..." _He begins but fails to describe his own thoughts. He returns his gaze back to the painting and draws out a deep breath. _"This is exactly how I imagined it, and it's even better than I expected." _The good news brings happiness, not only to Hayi but to Sejin as well. _"You scared us with your silence! We thought you didn't like it!"_

_"I apologize for that. I'm just speechless seeing it in person." _Dongwook says. _"Didn't Hayi send you pictures of the progress? Why are you still surprised?" _Sejin asks out of curiosity, knowing that his uncle rarely gets dazzled.

_"That's because I only sent him parts of the painting and not the whole. I wanted it to still have an element of surprise when I present it." _Gaining her confidence back, Hayi briefly explains to her best friend the reason behind the big reveal. _"I wanted to incorporate all the ideas you have mentioned. The background is my surrealistic attempt to showcase how different your worlds are." _Hayi points at the mixtures of nature-inspired elements from the high mountain that frames the corner of the canvas to the calm water meeting in the middle.

_"I've noticed that you and Ms. Hana loves plants, so I did my best to include that as well." _Hayi, who is now in high spirits, explains the symbolism of the plant-related element of the realistic portrait in the middle. _"You're right, we really love plants and flowers," _Dongwook confirms.

Hayi nods in relief. _"I added cactuses around both of you as a symbol of endurance. That no matter what's thrown in your way, you'll survive and make it work." _Knowing the meaning of the plant by heart, Dongwook says,_ "They're actually Hana's favorite plant. I'm sure she'll love it."_

Feeling a little bit left out, Sejin asks the artist another question, _"What is the bouquet of purple flowers she's holding?" _Dongwook looks at Hayi, not recognize the flower. _"They're Heliotrope, and they symbolize an unchanging love that will never cease; eternal love."_

As an artist, Hayi takes proud of the outcome of her work, but as a woman, she feels her heart warms. When she did her research about the symbolism of flowers, it was difficult to pick only one. However, when she came across this specific flower, she knew it was the perfect one to describe Dongwook and Hana's everlasting love for each other. Hayi also longs to have such pure love in the future.

_"Hayi, I want to thank you for doing such an excellent job even though you are very busy with your thesis." _Hayi's heart swells with happiness as Dongwook expresses his gratitude_. "The symbolism you added fits perfectly to our love story. Thank you for the time you poured in researching about it."_

_"She has the energy to do that because she's inspired." _Sejin silently snickers at the corner and Hayi glares at him with the tips of her ears turning red. Good thing, the side comment was left unnoticed by Dongwook. _"You're an exceptional artist, and I'm sure you have a bright future ahead of you."_

_"Thank you for your kind words, Sir Dongwook." _Hayi can finally feel at peace, knowing that she accomplished the task with flying colors. Being appreciated is such a rewarding feeling after all the time and effort she has put into this piece. Now, there's just one last thing to check on Hayi's to do list; and that is to execute her thesis in the way she has planned it.

_"Sir Dongwook, I would like to invite you and Miss. Hana to my thesis exhibition." _Hayi suddenly says as she remembers her thesis. _"Oh yeah! It'll be soon. Uncle, you should definitely come!" _Sejin joins in while he carefully wraps the painting. _"Of course, I'd love to see more of your work. Just message me the details." _Hayi happily nods as they finish wrapping the canvas.

Dongwook takes the canvas and says, _"Good luck with your exhibit. I'm looking forward to being blown away again." _Hayi can feel the pressure rising, but our heroine is a strong woman. She is up for any challenge, especially if it's about arts. Hayi is ready to push herself beyond her limits and produce the most remarkable thesis yet.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	39. ☾⛧ The World Around us ⛧☽

The day Hayi has been dreading to come has finally arrived. Finally, it is her thesis presentation day. 9:54 AM. Hayi is pacing back and forth outside the Black Box. Her thesis adviser along with the panel could come by at any minute now. _"You can do this Hayi." _She tells herself. _"Yeah, you can do this girl!"_ Sejin says from behind her. He and the X-Men have volunteered to be ushers at her exhibit. Hayi tried to reject their offer by saying they've already done so much for her, but the boys insisted that they should be there until the end. _"Thank you so much for being here, Sejin."_ She reaches for her best friend's hand. _"Of course, you've always been there for me whenever I needed you." _Sejin tells her as he holds her other hand._ "Don't be too nervous, okay? We're just here." _He gives Hayi a must-needed hug but then, he sees someone waiting behind Hayi. Sejin whispers something to Hayi. _"Someone will be jealous if we stay like this longer."_ _"Huh?"_ Hayi then hears someone clear their throat from behind her. She turns and sees Yuvin. _"I'll be inside."_ Sejin cheekily tells her as he leaves the two of them alone.

_"Hey, goodluck today."_ Yuvin softly tells Hayi which makes her laugh. _"Why do you sound so soft today?"_ Yuvin can't help but smile. _"I'm actually nervous." _He shyly says and Hayi amusingly asks, _"Nervous? Why?"_ _"For you." "What? I'm the one defending my thesis, not you." "I know that, but I'm still nervous."_ All of Hayi's nervousness were shooed away by the butterflies in her stomach. She can't believe Song Yuvin is being all mushy in front of her, because of her. _"Go Hayi! Go Hayi!" _He chants to give Hayi encouragement. She joins in. _"Go Hayi! Go Hayi!"_

Yuvin does nothing but chant her name with a smile, and suddenly, Hayi is no longer afraid of what's to come. For a moment, she forgot about everything she has been worrying about. _"I guess this is your effect on me, Song Yuvin." _Hayi teases herself internally.

The two doesn't look away from each other's eyes until a voice interrupts them. _"Hayi?" _They turn to the direction of the voice and sees Hana all by herself. Before Hana could recognize or call Yuvin, Hayi takes a few steps towards Hana. _"Ms. Hana! Are you here with Sir Dongwook?"_ _"I'm supposed to be here with him, but he's running late. He had to deal with some things at his studio. So, I went here first."_ _"I see..." _Then, awkward silence creeps upon them. Although Hana looks brighter and friendlier than Dongwook, Hayi is having a hard time being natural around her. Is she intimidated? Is she starstruck? She doesn't know. However, there's one thing she's sure of, and that is she would definitely feel less awkward right now if only Yuvin wasn't there standing only a few feet away from them.

Unexpectedly, Hayi hears a voice from behind her. _"Hana."_ Yuvin calls and Hana looks past Hayi. Her eyes widen and Hayi takes a step aside. _"Yuvin?"_ _"Yep, it's me."_ _"No wonder you looked familiar!" _Excited to see her old friend, Hana wanted to hug Yuvin, but before she does, she stops to ask him, _"May I?"_ Yuvin furrows his eyebrows. _"Why are you asking?" _Hana takes a glance at Hayi before answering Yuvin, _"Someone told me, you're a man now."_ Yuvin tries to hide his blush by pulling Hana into a hug. _"Hey! Of course! I'm in college now. What did you expect?" _But both Hayi and Hana catches it anyway. _"Was I obvious?"_ Hayi wonders, knowing there's no way Hana or even Dongwook would know that she likes Yuvin. One name popped in her mind though. _"Sejin."_ She sighs as she shakes her head.

Contrary to her expectations, Hayi feels comfortable at the sight of the two old friends hugging. After bugging Kookheon for several days, he finally told her the story of Yuvin and Hana, and she's happy that they, especially Yuvin, seems to have moved on already. It's not her thing to be jealous anyways, and she's glad that she doesn't have to be. Suddenly, her thoughts were disturbed when someone calls her name. _"Hayi." _She turns and sees Professor Yumi with several people behind her. _"Uh oh."_ She gulps. The panel has arrived.

_"Are you ready?"_ Professor Yumi asks. _"Of course. I was waiting for you."_ It's true that Hayi was waiting for them, but it's not true that she's ready. But it's not like she has a choice other than to start the presentation now. _"This way,"_ She knocks on the door and Byungchan opens it. She waits for everyone to enter before entering herself. Then, she takes a glance at Yuvin. He mouths "_Fighting!" _and gives her a big smile. Hana as well as the X-Men who are helping her today also give her big reassuring smiles.

Hayi closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath.The most important event of her college life is about to start. _"You prepared so hard for this, Hayi. You're going to do well." _She opens her eyes and flashes a smile before everyone._ "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Go Hayi, a senior from the Fine Arts department and the creator of this exhibit. Welcome to The World Around Us."_

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

_"This is amazing."_ A panel commented while admiring the exhibit. Hayi catches the compliment from a far and smiles to herself. _"As you can see, The World Around Us is an art exhibit inside a convenience store."_ Hayi explains as they stop in front of the first painting. _"Working part-time at a convenience store for around a year, I realized that many people go there for their immediate necessities but only a few actually pay attention to their surroundings or to other people. This first painting depicts a lady's daily visit to the store without ever looking at the workers or to the other customers. She doesn't remove her attention from her phone and her wearing earphones helps detach her from the real world." _Professor Yumi, the panel, and the few people who went to see the exhibit all have their mouths gaped at the wonderful painting and Hayi's explanation of it.

_"She's a genius."_ Hana whispers to Yuvin as they walk side by side, a few feet away behind the panel. _"Yeah, she's really smart. Like, one of the smartest people I know."_ Yuvin proudly says. _"So, you're working with her at the convenience store?" _Hana asks, shifting the topic from Hayi to Yuvin. _"Yeah, I started only 6 months ago."_ _"I never would've expected you to get a part-time job." "Yeah, me either. But I realized I gotta learn how to look after myself somehow."_ They both laugh at Yuvin's remark. _"I guess that's why you weren't talking to me anymore." _Hana tries to tease Yuvin but he doesn't get it. _"You're busy crushing on her." _She continues._ "What?! No... no..." _Yuvin shyly denies and Hana can only laugh. _"Don't lie. You seem to like her A LOT... way beyond than how you liked me in the past."_ Yuvin smiles bitterly at the sudden flashback of memories. Nonetheless, he feels as if his heart has become much lighter now. _"Was I obvious?" "Yeah, I saw you two earlier. You were looking at her as if your life depended on it."_ Hana says while nodding._ "If you say so..." _Yuvin takes a glance at Hana before proceeding to tease her as well, _"You were also busy crushing on someone."_ _"Okay. That's true."_ Hana confidently admits and there was silence for a moment until Yuvin curiously asks, _"How did you two meet?"_ and Hana's face brightens up like a kid whose mother just asked what gift she wants for Christmas. _"I met him in the US. I was presenting a painting at an exhibit for the first time, like what Hayi is doing right now, and Dongwook was there as one of the guests." _She cheerfully narrates._ "I saw him and I actually couldn't concentrate the whole time. I was like, why is that man so handsome? Then, he just approached me afterwards to say that he really liked my painting, and you know, small talk. Turns out, our apartments are near each other, and since we're both Koreans, we just decided to meet often. And well, the rest is history." _She shrugs with a smile.

If this was the old Yuvin, he'd definitely be bitter over Hana's story. But like what Hayi told Hana, Yuvin is no longer a kid; he's a man now. He is happy that Hana was able to find someone who makes her happy, and he is thankful that it is someone as reliable as Dongwook. _"I hope you two have a long happy life together."_ He wishes to Hana. After passing by five paintings, the two listen to a panel's question to Hayi.

_"Ms. Go, I'm really impressed with your exhibit. I can only imagine you were motivated by something huge to do something like this. What is it? What pushed you? What inspired you to do this kind of art exhibit for your thesis?"_ Hayi has been doing a good job of keeping herself calm the whole time, but the question shakes her. She knows the answer but she's afraid. Not only is it very personal to her, but also because she suddenly realized something as she was trying to find the right words. _"As an artist," _She replies firmly,_ "Art is very important in my life. I see, feel, and breathe Art wherever I go. Everything around me is Art, and that is the same for each and everyone of you here. However, like most customers at a convenience store, we rarely look at the things we think we don't need. We're only here for the things we want; we're only here for the things we are looking for, and because of that, we aren't aware that there's more to things that we know. Through this exhibit, I want to share the joy of noticing and appreciating the trivial things of the world around us."_

Hayi takes a deep breath before continuing, _"And what's really amazing is that, throughout the course of my preparation for this exhibit, I was just like the customers at a convenience store. Because I was so focused on my studies and work, I wasn't mindful of my surroundings. Sometimes, I even purposely ignored some things... I was so focused on the things I only want to focus on that I didn't know that I've been missing out on a lot." _Hayi then shifts her gaze from the panel to the people she didn't realize have become her best friends. _"However, once I opened up my heart, I realized that everything I would need, that the most important people that I would need in my life have always been at my side," _She looks at Seungyoun, Jinhyuk, Byungchan, Seungwoo, Kookheon, and Sejin before landing her gaze to Yuvin._ "And I'm thankful that I gave myself a chance to see the world around me."_ She says with a warm smile.

Although the exhibit was called The World Around Us, it's as if there is no one and nothing else around Hayi and Yuvin right now. It's just the two of them, until the silence between them was broken by a round of applause from everyone in the exhibit. _"I wish the same to you."_ Hana belatedly answers Yuvin. _"I hope you have a long happy life together." "I will. I promise."_ Yuvin answers without breaking eye contact with Hayi.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	40. ☾⛧ You Got That Something Say To Me⛧☽

It's official. Hayi can finally breathe with the assurance that she'll be graduating very soon. As she walks at the white corridor of the fine arts department, she remembers the good and the bad days she had shared with it. Undoubtedly, the past four years have been a rocky path, but she's glad to have reached the end of the road.

For the past days, she's been planning the next steps she will soon have to take. The future appears to be bright for the young artist, but a part of her feels attached to this place that taught her many things. Furthermore, our strong independent woman has become soft to the people around her. Is she ready to not see them, especially Yuvin, as often as she was able to?

A gentle tap on her shoulder brings her back to reality. _"Earth to Hayi!" _Sejin appears in front of Hayi with shinning blonde hair. _"Nice hair, bestie!" _Hayi exclaims, and Sejin smiles in contentment. _"Thanks! So, what's up? And why are you zoning out in the middle of the corridor?"_

_"Oh! I was only thinking, that's all." _Unconvinced, Sejin gives Hayi a long look before linking his arms to hers. _"There's an event for all art students in the theater. Let's go together!" _Hayi hesitantly allows Sejin to drag her as she's surprised by the sudden event._ "I did not hear anything about that..." _However, she's left with no choice but to follow Sejin. She only hopes that her free time will not go to waste.

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

The theater was half full when the pair arrived. Hayi can sense that this might just be a minor event due to the lack of attendees. Nonetheless, they made their way to the center seat near the stage. _"What is this event about?" _Hayi asks Sejin once they're seated. _"You'll find out soon." _She catches Sejin's cheeky smile before the light dims a little.

A lone figure emerges from the side of the stage, which walks directly to the piano placed near the center. The soft melody fills every corner of the room as each note hits enchantingly. The pianist starts singing with a soulful voice that fits flawlessly to the music. _♪Don't tease me because I'm young...♪ _Hayi listens carefully. She thinks the voice sounds very familiar. "_Isn't that Seungy-" ♪Different from what you thought...♪ _Hayi stops halfway as Sejin stands up and begins singing as well.

Bewildered, Hayi looks at Sejin as if he grew a second head. _"Is a he part of this event?" _She questions herself, still in shock when the third person appears on the stage. _♪I'm not that naive.♪_ Seungwoo sings in perfect tune with the piano key. Then, the trio meets in the middle of the stage to sing the chorus together. _♪You got that something say to me.♪_ With a cheerful smile on their faces, they effortlessly harmonize together.

Hayi is still in a state of confusion. Although she wants to enjoy the performance, at the back of her head, she thinks this is all a big prank. _"Seungyoun's presence alone screams danger. But Seungwoo and Sejin are pretty decent, so they won't do anything crazy. Maybe-" _Right on cue, the fourth person comes in. Kookheon with his perfectly styled hair starts to sing his line with oozing passion. While making different hearts with his hands, Byungchan then walks in and takes over the next couple of lines.

_"What's going on?"_ Hayi sits at the edge of her seat. She wonders how they have time to play around in the middle of finals season. Byungchan finishes the last part of the chorus with his dimples flashing cutely. Hayi senses that another person will soon appear, so she looks at the side of the stage. To her surprise, someone waltzes in from the back of the audience and raps, _♪Wait a minute, wait a minute. This song with a twist.♪ _Even Jinhyuk who is always behind the stage is included in whatever this is. He salutes to Hayi when their eyes meet before pointing his hand to the stage.

The audience looks back to the stage to see someone flying. A well-built student flips and kicks to the mellow piano melody. _♪This masterpiece of art called love.♪ _Yohan, the taekwondo superstar, extravagantly joins. Hayi gasps in amazement, and so does the crowd. After he finishes his part, he points to the right side of the audience for the next surprise.

_♪Different from what you thought.♪ _Kim Wooseok sings with his hands in his pockets. He handsomely walks down the stairs. The girls on the side giggles in excitement, but Hayi can only see a cat walking. Everyone gathers at the center stage to sing the chorus together. As they were crazily singing, Hayi's artistic eyes notice something.

They're all wearing different shades of red, and they are standing in a line from the lightest to the darkest shade. Hayi then mentally names each color and sees the absence of some tones. _"Blush, Rose, and Cherry are missing?" _She wonders at first, but she soon realizes what this event might be about. This is probably a congratulatory event for her successful thesis exhibit. Most likely, they asked random students to be the audience, so it'll be less obvious. Hayi is convinced that this is what this event is for because why would Sejin join something like this only to prank her?

_♪An innocence that can't be resisted.♪_ The first missing tone, Hangyul, walks in wearing the shade cherry. Hayi cringes as Hangyul does a body roll to the point where she needs to cover her eyes. _♪An attraction that can't be described.♪ _A new voice echoes through the theater, and Hayi opens her eyes to see someone she least expected to be here. _"Eunsang?"_ The said boy cheerfully smiles at her before copying Hangyul's dance moves and slowly (sexily) drops to the floor. Hayi makes a mental note to stop Eunsang from hanging out with these boys.

Eunsang is wearing a blush top, so we are down to the last person. As the piano descends slowly for the incoming bridge, the lights dim into a dramatic effect. The boys move to the side to give way for the man of the night. The theater curtain slowly opened to reveal a man standing in the middle, holding a bouquet. With a rose-colored top, Yuvin nervously walks to the centerstage.

_♪Don't you cry, won't you always smile?♪ _His sweet-sounding voice and Hayi finds herself in cloud nine. Their eyes meet, and Yuvin smiles at her. _♪I'll protect you for the rest of your life.♪_ Hayi can feel her heart beating so fast with happiness. At the same time, she also feels nervous, realizing that this isn't a celebratory event after all; for this event might actually lead to something she has been hoping for the past months.

Yuvin takes careful steps down the stage without looking away from Hayi. _♪I pray for love.♪ _He soulfully sings while Hayi can't stop herself from smiling, feeling so valued at the moment. _♪For love.♪ ♪FOR LOVE!♪ ♪True love.♪ ♪TRUE LOVE!♪ _Yuvin and the boys alternately sing the lines to the song. Hayi lightly laughs at their silliness.

Yuvin reaches Hayi, and the spotlight shines at both of them as they shyly look at each other. With happiness sparkling in their eyes, Yuvin continues singing. _♪Don't be afraid and hold my hand.♪ _Just like the lyrics, Yuvin extends his hand to Hayi. The said girl looks surprised, yet she slowly but surely places her hand on his. Yuvin feels his insides exploding, knowing that his hand is right where it should be. He squeezes her hand and pulled her to stand on her feet.

Hayi sees the bouquet that he is holding and notices that it's not an ordinary flower bouquet. Instead, it's made of paper. Hayi has always dreamed of receiving an origami flower bouquet for the reason that she can keep it for a very long time. _"Did you make this?" _Hayi asks. _"Yes, with the help of the other guys." _Back at the stage, some of the boys wave their hands full of bandages. _"How did you know I-" "I know everything, especially when it comes to you." _If it was the Hayi from the past, she would have cringed but it's different now.

Hayi breaks their eye contact, afraid that he will notice that she is blushing so much. Yuvin nudges her hand to look back to him which Hayi reluctantly does. _"There is something important I need to ask." _Yuvin begins as their eyes finally meet again. _"I'm not roleplaying any characters right now." _He jokingly begins out of his nervousness, but Hayi understands him because she herself is also nervous._ "This is the real Song Yuvin." _His voice is gentle and sweet but firm and serious at the same time. He has been waiting for this moment for the longest time, and there is no room to back out now. With one last deep breathe, he asks, _"Will you be my girlfriend?"_

The theater is absolutely quiet including Seungyoun who stopped playing the piano so everyone can hear the exchange. Hayi can feel all eyes on her, and she feels self-conscious and pressed to answer quickly. _"So annoying..." _She starts, avoiding everyone's eye which makes Yuvin break into cold sweats. His eyes are wide open in disbelief. However, before he has a chance to say something, Hayi continues. _"So annoying that I like you."_ The crowd suddenly cheers so loudly that Yuvin is unsure if he heard what Hayi said right.

For good measure, he asks again, _"Uhm so... what's your answer?" _Hayi looks at Yuvin straight in the eyes and lovingly smiles before she answers, "_Yes." _Yuvin can melt into a puddle right because he never thought this day would come! From being afraid of falling in love again to finally getting another chance in love, he now knows where he truly belongs.

_"Kiss! Kiss!" _Everyone chants, and the new couple feels uncomfortable with the wish of the crowd. Being the man, Yuvin tries to silence the crowd, but no one listens to him. _"Kiss!!!" _They continue to shout louder and louder. Hayi, being the strong independent woman she is, takes the matter into her hands (quite literally).

Hayi turns to Yuvin, who looks so helpless. She doesn't know where she got the courage when she reaches out her hand to cover his mouth. Suddenly, she tiptoes to reach his height. With no hesitation, she kisses the back of her hand right where Yuvin's lips should be.

That is all it takes for the crowd to go wild. Seungyoun takes that as a sign to smash the piano with an even livelier version of the song they were singing. Everyone sings along in high spirits while the couple remains blushing from their not-so first kiss. Yuvin is the first one to snap out of the awkwardness by handing the bouquet to Hayi. _"Thank you, Yuvin." _She genuine says for the effort he did for today and also, for overcoming his past to face the future with her. 

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	41. ☾⛧Attendance Check: Where are they now? ⛧☽

_Beep. Beep. Bee-_

_"Ugh..." _The boy groans as he felt the sunlight caress the side of his face. Like in any other school day, who wants to get up in bed so early in the morning? _"Eunsang-ah! Wake up! It's your first day at uni today!"_ The boy immediately shoots up upon hearing the voice of his mom. _"That's right. I'm a college student now!"_ He realizes and a smile slowly forms in his face. It's been a year since he visited Hayi and X-Men's university for the grand confession, and fell in love with it. Since that day, he's decided on his dream university, and finally, he's going to study there from today on. He rushes to wash and dress himself up, and fix his things. _"Are you not eating?"_ His mom asks before he runs out the door. _Ding dong!_ Right on cue, his best friend arrived to commute with him to the university. _"Nope! I'm eating with Junho!"_ _"Okay. Have fun!"_

Eunsang skips his way out of the house, and Junho greets him with a bright smile and crescent eyes. _"Ohhh. You dyed your hair black!"_ He notices. _"Yeah, back to basics!" "I'm so glad I'm going to school with you. I'm nervous about making friends." "Same here."_

Although the two were energetic as they left Eunsang's home earlier, they immediately fall into slumber as soon as they rode the bus, and remained asleep throughout the trip. Luckily, a familiar man taps their shoulders as they arrived at their stop. _"You don't want to miss your first day of college!"_ The two jolts and turns around. _"Sejin hyung!" _They both exclaim. _"You've arrived at your stop."_ _"Thank you!"_ They bow down before going down the bus. _"Are you going to uni too, hyung?" _Eunsang curiously asks upon seeing Sejin walk with them in the same direction. He didn't expect him to go down the bus as well. _"Didn't you graduate already?"_ Sejin smiles at the younger boy. _"Yeah, but I need to take care of some alumnus matters." _He explains. _"I se-" _Eunsang wanted to respond to Sejin. However, he suddenly bumps onto Junho who is standing still in front of him. _"Hey, what's up?" _Eunsang asks. _"We're really going to be college students now."_ Junho says in amazement while staring at the university building. Meanwhile, Eunsang is admiring Junho. _"That's right... we're going to be college students now."_ He softly says as if whispering to himself. _"Goodluck, boys!"_ Sejin cheers the boys before walking ahead of them. _"Thank you, hyung!"_ The freshmen boys snaps an answer before admiring the building once again.

_Ringgggg-_

_"Hello?"_ Sejin answers the phone call. _"Hey, when are you coming here?!" _The voice from the other line furiously asks. _"I'm already walking!" _Sejin explains. _"Well, hurry up! I have a shoot!"_ _"I can already see you."_ Sejin drops the call and runs to the man who's been waiting for him on one of the benches. _"You're late!" _The man exclaims._ "You know, for a customer, you're really demanding, Mr. Kim Wooseok."_ Sejin scoffs. _"Excuse me. I'm no regular customer. I'm your business photographer."_ Wooseok says with a sassy facial expression.

Sejin has been experimenting with crafts as early as last year, but it was only around 5 months ago when he started selling his marimong dolls because people kept asking him about it, especially after the X-Men and the convenience store boys carried it on their bags wherever they went. To further advertise his dolls, Wooseok suggested that Sejin open a page dedicated for the dolls, and being the photography student that he is, even offered his photography services for Sejin to have some nice product shots. _"Psh. Anyways, here are the marimongs."_ Sejin gives Wooseok a small bag of dolls, and the latter looked ecstatic, _"Yay!" "By the way, who are you giving those dolls to?" "I'm gonna go to an orphanage later. I'm giving these to the kids." _Wooseok explains. _"What about me?"_ Hangyul peeks in from behind Sejin. _"Where are my marimongs?" "Here they are."_ Sejin gives him his two dolls. _"Sweet!" _Like Wooseok, Hangyul gets excited over the dolls. _"Is he your model today?"_ Sejin asks Wooseok, pertaining to Hangyul, and he replies, _"Nope. I told you, I'm going to the orphanage."_ _"Yeah, and I have a shift at the convenience store today." _Hangyul explains. _"Well, we better get going now."_ The three part ways with Sejin going to uni, Wooseok to his shoot at the orphanage, and Hangyul to the store.

_"I hope there aren't much customers today." _Hangyul says as he walks, hoping he could catch some rest during his shift. However, about several meters away from the store, he can already see a bunch of girls waiting by the entrance, and he's sure there's more inside. He sighs. Ever since Wooseok got him as a last-minute replacement model on one of his freelance work, Hangyul's popularity skyrocketed not only in their university, but also to other schools. He's basically a celebrity in social media now. Not that he's complaining though. As a dance major, being recognized by people has always been part of his dream. At the same time, the store manager Park Yunsol is very pleased with the increase of customers that he doesn't scold Hangyul about his tardiness anymore as long as he goes to his shift. However, he's not yet ready to experience the passion of fangirls.

He sees someone giving flyers near the store so he gets one and uses it to cover his face. He carefully treads his way to the entrance so that the girls won't notice him just yet. However, he accidentally makes eye contact with one of them. He immediately looks away hoping she won't make a fuss, and thankfully, she really doesn't. Well, that's because she didn't go to the store for him. Hangyul enters the store and hears the girls gushing over a guy. _"Omg he's more handsome in close up."_ Hangyul follows the gaze of the girls and tries to hold back his laughter. He was worried for himself for nothing.

Sitting on one of the chairs is the taekwondo superstar, Kim Yohan. _"Hello..." _A student shyly greets. _"May I ask for your signature?"_ Yohan looks up and politely gives the girl a sign. _"I'm not sure why you would want my sign, but here." _He smiles and it is enough for the girls at the store to fall in love with him, again. Hangyul shakes his head at the sight. _"You're early today, huh?"_ He asks Yohan from a distance, and the girls start to give Yohan space. _"Breakfast." _Yohan points to his ramen. _"A chef eating ramen for breakfast?"_ Hangyul teases Yohan. _"You can't be healthy all the time."_ Yohan giggly replies. Although he is often busy because of his trainings and competitions, not to mention that he is from another building, Yohan and Hangyul had gotten closer over the year because of Wooseok. From time to time, they work for Wooseok whenever he needs models for his shoot. Furthermore, since the incident with Yuvin going missing after his play last year, Yohan realized he should pay more attention to his friends. Everytime he has the chance, he always makes sure that he shows up in his friends' special events. _"By the way, are you going to the play?"_ Hangyul asks. _"Of course! It's the first time Byungchan hyung is going to be the lead role."_

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

The lights click and the whole theater goes dim. Only a few lights are on to shine on the two actors on the stage. _"Papa. Oh, no. He's sick. He may be dying. And he's all alone." _The lady with a ribbon on her hair says while looking at a mirror showing her father. The actor who's dressed as a beast turns, then looks at the rose behind him. _"Then... you must go to him."_ He says after having a deep thought. _"What did you say?" _The lady asks, puzzled by the beast's response. Although conflicted, the beast firmly tells the lady, _"I release you. You are no longer my prisoner." _She gasps. _"You mean... I'm free?" "Yes." "Oh, thank you."_ The lady excitedly says and looks at the mirror once again. _"Hold on, Papa. I'm on my way."_ Before leaving, she gives the mirror back to the beast, but the beast says, _"No. Take it with you, so you'll always have a way to look back, and..." _He pauses to take a deep breath. _"Remember me."_ The beautiful lady smiles at him. _"Thank you for understanding how much he needs me."_ She says as he caresses his cheek and before running out of the room. The beast is left alone in the middle of the stage.

After a few moments, the lights click once again, and the theater is back to being bright.

_"That was very good. I really liked your sad face during the last moments there, Byungchan."_ The director praises him while going to the backstage. _"Let's take a break. Be back after 30 minutes."_ Byungchan goes down the stage to take a rest at one of the theater seats. It's his first time playing as the lead role but he's not sure whether he's happy with it or not. The reason? _"So, how's the facial hair going on?" _Seungwoo who was watching the rehearsal teases him. This is the reason; his friends are teasing his character's appearance. _"It feels smoother today."_ He doesn't take it seriously though because the boys do worse clownery of each other on a daily basis. _"Don't you have a class today?" _He asks Seungwoo who is now a full-time professor in the theater department. _"I dismissed them early." "Wow. Your students are going to love you." "Yeah, until I give them the surprise quiz next week." _Seungwoo winks at Byungchan and Byungchan gives him a disgusted face. _"Evil."_ He says right before someone calls them from behind, _"Guys! Kindly tell Sir Lee I have to leave early." _The man in a beret says in a rush while running out of the theater. _"Seungyoun! Where are you going?"_ They ask in unison. _"Musical scorer duties!"_ He quickly gives them a salute before disappearing from their sight.

Thanks to his amazing music and sociability skills, Seungyoun is in-charge of the music for the theater department's play once again. He felt it was too big of a burden at first, but as time passed, he came to enjoy doing it. On top of his studies and regular work at the theater, he also started offering his talents as a musical scorer to his film major friends doing their thesis films, including one of his best buds, _"Jinhyuk!"_ Seungyoun calls from the other side of the cafeteria. _"My man!" _Jinhyuk shouts back to him with his hand raised for the other to give him a high-five. _"Is the rough cut done?"_ Seungyoun asks and Jinhyuk nods his head while giving him a USB. _"Yep. It's here."_ _"Okay."_ Seungyoun then gets his laptop out of his bag and starts working on Jinhyuk's film right away. _"Are you working on it already?"_ Jinhyuk asks, and the busy music student replies, _"Yeah, got no time to waste."_

Jinhyuk is impressed with his friend's ability to juggle his tasks during one of his busiest times in college and still maintain his bright personality, because based on his experience while doing his thesis film so far, he's always on the verge of losing it. Just last night, he almost had a breakdown because of a conflict with his crew's schedules. Thankfully, he met Kookheon in the elevator as they were both about to go home. They had dinner together, and he was able to release his frustrations to his friend. Speaking of Kookheon, he arrives at their table with a plate of his lunch on his hand. _"Jinhyuk-ah," _He skips any greeting to tell him a good news. _"One of my lowerclassmen are free on your shooting dates. She says she can help on your thesis as part of the production design."_ _"Oh! Yeah! Thank you so much!"_ Jinhyuk can't hide his excitement and gratefulness. _"Can you please bring her to the next meeting on the weekend?"_ He asks Kookheon. _"Yeah sure. I'll tell her."_

Like Seungyoun, Kookheon is working to help Jinhyuk with his film as a make-up artist. _"Oh, and you know what?"_ Jinhyuk excitedly asks Kookheon while the latter is drinking water. _"What?" "Dongwook hyung asked me if you want to be his make up artist." _Jinhyuk says which almost makes Kookheon choke on his drink. _"What?!"_ He exclaims. _"His stylist quit so he's looking for a new one now and he remembered you, so he asked."_ Kookheon remains like a stone for a few seconds. _"So, what do you say? You're gonna be employed even before you graduate." "Am I gonna be his make up artist anytime anywhere?"_ Kookheon snaps out of his amazement to clarify. _"Yeah, pretty much." _Jinhyuk shrugs and Kookheon, without any second thoughts, agrees to it. _"Oh, yeah sign me up!"_ _"I'll give him your contact details, okay? I'll send you his as well." _Jinhyuk says without looking up from his phone until he remembers something. _"Oh! You might even do his makeup for his wedding."_

☆°˖✧ ♡ ✧˖°☆

_"Are you ready, hyung?"_ Kookheon asks Dongwook as he finishes his makeup. This is his first time working as Dongwook's personal makeup artist, but he's already skipped the awkward stage and just went straight to calling him _hyung_. Dongwook shakes his head. _"Oh... I don't know." _He replies. _"Well, you better be soon."_ Kookheon pulls Dongwook to stand up and straighten his coat. _"I wish you happiness, hyung."_ He sincerely wishes. _Knock knock. "Is our groom ready? The ceremony's about to start." _The planner calls him. _"Thank you, Kookheon."_ Two things are going to start today; one is Dongwook and Kookheon working together, and the other is Dongwook and Hana's union as husband and wife.

Standing by the altar, Dongwook looks dashing like always. He tries to calm his heart beating fast by doing steady inhales and exhales. As an actor, he's really good at controlling his emotions. However, this isn't acting. This is real life. Just a few moments from now on, he's going to spend the rest of his life with the one and only woman that he loves.

The bells ring and a beautiful lady in white lace wedding dress enters the room. Linking hands with her father, she walks as the piano plays Mendelssohn's Wedding March and as the guests clap their hands. The X-Men, Sejin, and Hayi are all present, and their mouths are wide open. _"She's beautiful." _Hayi says in admiration. Hana sees the group and gently smiles at them.

Before she met Dongwook, her thoughts on marriage were mostly negative. She's had a few dates, but she felt like she was too free and career-oriented for marriage. However, it slowly changed as her love for Dongwook matured over time. _"The right love comes at the right time."_ She says to herself before looking up and straight ahead to the man who's waiting for her by the altar. She tries to hold back her tears but they ultimately fall upon Dongwook reaching for her hand. _"I love you."_ She whispers to him and Dongwook chuckles. _"We have yet to say our vows."_ He jokes. It's times like this when Hana feels just how mature Dongwook is compared to her, and when Dongwook feels how much he needs Hana's innocence and pureness in his life.

_"Are you crying?"_ Byungchan looks over to Kookheon who is sobbing. _"That's my noona and my hyung, and they're getting married."_ He explains with tears still running down his face. If there is one person who probably feels the most connected to the two, it's Kookheon especially with how fast he got close with Dongwook. _"I can't wait for their baby."_ He says out of nowhere which brings laughter to the friends.

☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema


	42. ☾⛧ Deal or No deal? ⛧☽

Just like how the season changes, many things in life can also change in just a year. There are things we have to welcome, and there are things that we have to let go of. Song Yuvin is now in his senior year, and finally, he passed his Algebra class. He was able to magically understand most of the lessons with the help of Hayi and Seungyoun. Without their help, Yuvin isn't sure if he will even be where he is today. Now, Yuvin is busy preparing for his thesis. He's still in the early process of making his own theater play, but he's already very stressed. He now knows how exhausted Hayi must have felt last year.

Though there are things that have changed, there are also some things that remain. Yuvin, the ever-optimistic person he is, still works in the convenience store. Due to his busy schedule, he usually works on the night shift now. At first, he contemplated about leaving, but in the end, he feels too attached to say goodbye to the special place.

The chimes on the door ring as a customer comes in. Yuvin tiredly greets the person and sees a beautiful woman. All his tiredness is instantly washed away as his heart flutters to see her. Hayi cheerfully walks to the fridge to get her favorite juice before heading back to the counter. _"Hi."_ Yuvin breathlessly says. It has also been a year since they became a couple, and yet, his heart still skips a beat every time they are together.

It was actually an awkward start for them since they were unsure how to act like a couple. But gradually, with the help of Yuvin's teasing and random roleplaying, they were able to overcome it. As Yuvin lay his eyes on her, he sees her newly dyed jet black hair that matches her formal attire. He can't fathom how lucky he is to be dating someone like her. Being with her did a lot of incredible things to Yuvin. Like for example, Hayi's organized attitude has magically rubbed off on Yuvin. Their weekend dates feel like an adventure of some sort as he devotedly organizes different activities. They went from a horseback riding, which was quite chaotic to sum up, and to museum-hopping that Yuvin prepared and studied hard to impress the young artist.

_"Hi, yourself." _Hayi teasingly says as she tries to get her wallet out of her bag. Yuvin catches sight of her sketchbook and gets an idea. _"Jack!"_ He exclaims an exaggeratingly attempt to mimic Rose. "_Draw me like one of your french girls!"_ Yuvin acts very dramatically, which makes Hayi cringe as he relives his obsession with Titanic. Actually, they just got back from their spring vacation trip. The couple went to Jeju island by cruise, thanks to the raffle that Yuvin won. They enjoyed the crystal clear waters and the endless seafood meals. Everything was perfect except for Yuvin's obsession with reenacting random titanic scene during the trip. _"I'm the king of the world!"_ He screams, the very moment they got to the edge of the deck. If not for Yuvin's quick reflexes, Hayi would have run away. People looked at them strangely as Yuvin stretches both of their arms out like a bird flying freely in the air. To date, it was the most embarrassing moment of Hayi's life.

However, it's Hayi's turn to have some fun now. _"Hmm... I have high standards."_ She says while poking Yuvin's arms._ "And I think you need to work out more."_ She playfully concludes, which breaks the actor's vibe. It's not an unusual sight to see Yuvin sulk after being teased, but to Hayi, it's always entertaining to see._ "Okay, I'm just kidding." _She comforts him not too long after while trying to surpass her laugh.

Still upset, Yuvin punches her drink. _"Your shift is ending soon, right? I'll wait for you." _Hayi sweetly says. Yuvin can never stay mad at Hayi, so he smilingly nods before assisting another customer. Hayi moves to the window side and places her heavy bag on the table.

It's been a year since Hayi graduated with honors, and now she works as a curator in the Seoul Museum of Art. The job promises a bright future for her, but it isn't part of her end goal. Right now, she wants to get a good grasp on how things work in the industry and save enough money before she launches her own studio in a couple of years. It may sound ambitious for a young artist, but someone she knows once said, _"If you're gonna dream, you gotta dream big, you know!"_ Hayi smiles at the thought of Yuvin's words.

Working as a curator is not an easy job, and Hayi can't help but reminisce about the good old days when she used to work in this very store. Life back a year ago is one of the most challenging and memorable experiences she ever had. It was not easy for her to leave the store since she feels a strong attachment to it as she worked there the longest, and it's also the place where she got inspired for the best thesis in the fine arts department.

Yuvin, however, thinks that he is the reason why Hayi doesn't want to leave. Though partly she agrees to that because our strong independent heroine has gone soft to her prince charming. For once, Hayi feels like she can depend on someone aside from herself. She appreciates his thoughtfulness to always look out for every single thing she needs. Just like the time where she had to move out of her dorm room last year, Yuvin prepared a van to move everything safely. Seungyoun joined as the trusted driver before he goes to his soul searching trip, and they carried her things with no complaints.

Hayi is taking each day one at a time, trying to go with the flow of life without putting too much pressure on herself. Yuvin's happy-go-lucky personality is also starting to rub off on her. Dating an easygoing theater student is making Hayi see the world from a different perspective. Literally, sometimes it's as if she is talking to Dory, who's Finding Nemo, while sometimes she is talking to Harry Potter. They say life is full of surprises, and so is Yuvin.

_"Boo!"_ Yuvin surprises Hayi while she's deep in thoughts. Feeling irritated, she slaps his arms constantly. _"How many times do I have to tell you not to scare me like that!" _Yuvin laughs at her, and to stop her from hitting him, he traps her into a back hug. Flustered from the sudden turn of events, Hayi stops moving and soon melts in his warm arms. Moments like this are what they treasure the most. A year ago, they would have never thought that they'll still be here in the same store they have met and quarreled in. Even more, they have never thought that they would be this significant to each other. But here, at this very moment, one thing is sure. Seasons may change, but they'll be each other's constants.

_"No-one can stop what I must do..."_ Of course, moments like this won't pass without Yuvin quoting lines. Hayi rolls her eyes feeling annoyed with the sudden interruption. However, Miss Saigon is her favorite musical, and she knows this line by heart. Hayi ignores her irritation to continue, _"I swear I'll give my life for you."_

As they look at each other's eyes, this is supposed to end romantically with a hug, or maybe a kiss. But, a puking sound by the door interrupts the couple. _"That's too much," _Hangyul says as Seungyoun continues to make puking sound. In fact, it's not just the two lads who witnessed the exchange. The whole X-men are present as well. Seungwoo, Yohan, and Byungchan look at them with their smiling faces. _"This is like the movie watched last night." _Seungwoo whispers to Yohan. _"Did you watch the last full show again?" _Seungwoo nods. The younger one doesn't understand the elder's hobby of watching movies alone. _"I'll just fall asleep even before the movie starts." _Yohan surely says as he looks back at Kookheon, Jinhyuk, and Wooseok who are now ready to tease the couple. At the corner, Eunsang and Junho wave at them.

Right from the start, Hayi concluded that Yuvin and her are like parallel lines. She strongly believed that their lives will never, ever, intertwine in the future after they graduate. But boy, was she wrong to assume that. Their life is now tightly knitted together, and Yuvin is not the only one she'll have to take with her. The whole gang comes in like a package, and it's either a deal or no deal.

Her eyes drift to one person to another until it ends to Yuvin. To Hayi, each of them has a story to tell with their own unique craziness. Although, this may be far too annoying for her, but if she can handle Yuvin then she can manage anything else. _"This has been Go strongindependentwoman Hayi, and it's a deal."_

_ _

_☾⛧ Thank you for reading our story! ⛧☽  
✧Twitter & Curiouscat - @ubeyema_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> — and that's a wrap!
> 
> From August 19 to October 10. 40 Chapters. 125 Pages. 45,671 Words.
> 
> We're emotional but happy to finish “Why Are You So Annoying?” Thank you sooo much for reading this story!!! We hope you enjoyed it.


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